The Cubs have updated their team flag

On Opening Day 2017 at Wrigley Field, the Cubs unfurled four flags on new flagpoles that had been constructed in the center-field bleachers.

Three of them commemorated the team’s World Series titles in 1907, 1908 and 2016. The fourth was a pennant-style flag honoring the 2016 National League pennant. There wasn’t a clear photo I could find of this flag actually flying over Wrigley, but it looks like this:

This design was a homage to a flag created for the 1945 Cubs National League championship. You can see that flag in this page that was in the team’s 1946 program (for a larger version of this image, click here):

There is another flag of note shown on that page. It’s the one that says “CHICAGO CUBS” with a number of stars on it. A flag like that one flew on the right-field foul pole for decades, until it was replaced by some of the Cubs’ retired number flags in the 1980s.

The two blue stars on the left and right of the “C” in the middle represented each of the team’s World Series titles up to that time. The 16 red stars on the blue background represented the 16 National League pennants the team had won up to 1945, including the six won before 1900.

As you can see at the top of this post, the Cubs have indeed updated the team flag. There are now three blue stars in the center, representing the World Series titles, and 17 red stars (nine to the left of the “C,” eight to the right) for the N.L. pennants. This flag is now flying in center field, on the flagpole where the 2016 N.L. pennant flew last year, and I’m glad the Cubs have returned it to a place of honor in the ballpark. (The World Series banners remain on the other three flagpoles.)

Let’s hope the Cubs have reason to update it again a year from now.

Click here for a larger version of the flag photo at the top of this post.