Chicago buildings light up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag in a show of solidarity

The Chicago skyline glows blue and yellow at night to signal support for the war-torn country.

Image by jorono from Pixabay

(CHICAGO) The view of the iconic Chicago skyline has changed in the past month as buildings across downtown have switched their usual colors to blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

If you stand at night on the State Street bridge and look to your west, you will see the Merchandise Mart alight in yellow and blue. At Navy Pier, the Centennial Wheel is lit up in yellow and blue. Other buildings include the Christian Science Reading Room on Wacker Drive and the InterContinental Hotel.

Nick Pullia, a senior advisor at Navy Pier, told WBEZ Chicago, “The Ukrainian people need to know from Americans right now that we stand with them."

Barry Butler Photography, specializing in gorgeous landscape photos of the city of Chicago, has captured some recent pictures of Chicago's skyline bathed in blue and yellow on its Twitter and Instagram pages.

The first image shows 875 North Michigan Avenue, formerly known as the John Hancock Center, lit up in blue lights around the top of the building.

And here, you can see the Merchandise Mart and 900 N. Michigan glowing yellow and blue.

Although not a picture of the lit-up skyline, you may want to check out this Instagram post of a beautiful image of the Ukrainian Village on the west side of Chicago, taken by Butler. The Ukrainian Village was designated an official Chicago neighborhood back in 1983 and today is a bustling area filled with Ukrainian-owned shops restaurants and businesses.

A quick history lesson on the Ukrainian flag

The first national flag for Ukraine was adopted in 1848 when revolutionaries were working to free the western parts from Austro-Hungarian rule. The original flag had horizontal stripes of yellow over blue with a coat of arms. In 1918, the striped colors were reversed to symbolize "blue skies over golden wheat fields."

In 1949, when Ukraine was under the Soviet Union, the flag transitioned to the Red Banner used by the Soviets. In 1992 after Ukraine had proclaimed independence from the Soviet Union, the flag once again sported the blue and yellow national colors of Ukraine.

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