Bronze Plaque: Board of Trade of the City of Chicago Seal
Bronze Plaque: State of Illinois Seal
Bronze Plaque: County Court Cook County Illinois Seal
The Our Heroes Monument contains a variety of iconography – images and symbols.
The Union standard or color bearer represents an early trend in Civil War monuments toward presenting soldiers in parade rest rather than in the act of fighting or dying. The images of the soldiers and sailors on the four square plaques, representing the four branches of service, are similar.
The four bronze seals on the shaft suggest the importance of local, state, and national interests in the memorialization of the Civil War.