Illinois

Illinois became the 21st state on December 3, 1818. Lincoln, then a state legislator, helped move the capital to Springfield in 1837 and lived there until he left for Washington in 1861. "Land of Lincoln" is now the state's official slogan.

Route 66 started here. Commissioned in 1926, the highway ran 2,448 miles from downtown Chicago, at Jackson Boulevard and Michigan Avenue, to Los Angeles, until it was decommissioned in 1985.

The sky is the yellow of late afternoon, with "Visit Illinois" in navy and orange across the top. A red vertical CHICAGO sign stands at left, in the manner of the Chicago Theatre marquee on State Street, which opened in 1921 and has become an unofficial emblem of the city. Blue towers rise behind a lake dotted with white sailboats, and two dark figures stand by the water. In front, an orange open roadster of the 1950s sits beside a black-and-white "Begin Route 66" shield, autumn trees glowing red behind it.