No kidding, an open hand in the air? That's got to be the most subtle gang sign I've ever heard of.

if you look at them closely, you can see they're definitely not just open hands. and the fact that they've pinpointed it to one particular gang leads me to believe they're not just grasping at straws...

Google it, you see the hand signs. They do look like the picture above.

but on the other hand, no pun intended, it also looks like people of all races with their fingers crossed, as in wishing them good luck...

clearly the original stickers came in under budget...

Google it, you see the hand signs. They do look like the picture above.

I did. I could not see any resemblance. Those hands DO look like they are simply grasping at straws or catching hats or something.

http://members.tripod.com/westside_crip/id18.htm

Google it, you see the hand signs. They do look like the picture above.

the stuff I pulled up looked different from the hands in the pic. could you link to what you're seeing?

It's a great sticker!! Anyone can find a problem with something if they look hard enough. I find it a symbol of community, the service to others that these agencies bring to the public. Spend money for an investigation? In this time of tight budgets across the country, why would they consider wasting taxpayers dollars on this?

I searched on bing "Maniac Latin Disciples". If you go down 13 rows and look at the second picture, it looks just like the hands in the above poster. Plus the link you posted, its about Crips, which is a whole different gang.

Why are people so friggin stupid? It's a picture which someone designed considered art. Is that a possibility to appreciate art, without society shooting holes through it with their paranoid mindframe. Get a life whoever wrote this article. Someone probably tried really hard to make their work a bumper sticker and you just shot them down. Way to go, now go shoot yourself down. That's why the news is overrated nowadays, people put too much bulls into the headlines. Be original ya friggin lame.

Conspiracy theories...on the other hand, you have to be pretty anal to even give a f***

Well, it is Chicago, what would you expect? Gangsters in trenchcoats trying to sell a Senate seat?

LOL.....and the Mayor of Chicago (is Mr. Emanuel still there or is he hiding in a &*^%*&(# bunker ?) stamped his approval of the sticker.

What a shocker !!!

cannonballer- You are absurd. Where in podunk do you live?

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...one too many people in the world read the Da vinci code one too many times. As an artist i can say without a doubt, they are just poorly drawn hands doing nothing but grasping at ...whatever...but stupidity is in the eye of the beholder.

I believe since the story of the prisoners in Vermont putting (sneakin in) the pig in the police cars decals, other citys don't want to be the butt of any jokes or criticism. I personally don't see anything but hands. But then again I'm not looking for anything negative. I like it.

www.wcax.com/story/16663947/prisoners-sneak-pig-into-vsp-decal

The public at large truly amazes me. The kid who drew this picture is 15 years old and his name is Herbert Pulgar. The Chicago Police Department became aware of this after Herbert's picture w/ Mayor Emmanuel. Herbert is recognized as either a member or a hanger on of the Maniac Latin Disciple's. This isn't a coincidence, the Chicago Police Department has photo's of this kid w/ other known gang members "flashing" the very gang sign's this picture has present. This isn't a conspiracy theory or someone trying to make trouble out of nothing. There is hard evidence that this kid is affiliated w/ this gang and that he incorporated the gang's images into this picture. I understand MSNBC doesn't give the full story of what's happening but this didn't come out of no where. The City of Chicago and Mayor Emmanuel are taking this one on the chin.

...

I'm going with the Chicago cops who are out on the streets every day and night. If they say they resemble the gang sign, then the sticker needs to be changed. How much work would it be to make the hands not look like a gang sign?

Make the simple change and move on. Much ado about nothing.

Wait wait wait....Herbert? Doesn't sound very Latino to me...Pulgar? Not really. I mean, that's even more white sounding than my name....And I have a pretty white name. I Don't know....Maybe he's mixed. Usually only Latinos are in Latin gangs...

Sounds like a wannabe. =/

Mike -Who's to say it's his father who is Hispanic. It could be on his mother's side...

Not even close.

the third finger and thumb extended is the MLD symbolism. In this emblem the whole hand is extended. In the sense that they are hands and they have fingers they are identical... otherwise, not.

People are so bizarre.

As Homer Simpson would say, "Doh!!!!"

Really, WTF, can't anyone do anything without some political BS ?

Next thing, someone will be upset because the sky is the wrong color blue because some BS gangbanger decides to use that color or the GLAAD/GLBT people will be upset because the color they use is/is not used. Give me a break.

Ummm, O.K. Chicago's city clerk, but umm, Yall do realize that six point stars are undoubtably gang signs right!!

Tammy

I wasn't talking about the father....I was replying to a post above that said "The boy who drew the picture is 15 years old and his name is Herbert Pulgar."

Makes you wonder if LULAC or La Raza had some hand in designing the flag...

Chicago is now and has since the twenties been run by criminals and mobs. What else could anyone expect?

Lol, I live in Chicago and it is far from being "run by criminals and mobs." Those hands don't look like any gang sign I've ever seen be for, but apparently just sticking an open hand up in the air is enough. If you'd ever try visiting Chicago you'd know that it's a very friendly city with only a few small pockets of bad areas, which can be said about any large city.

what_the_81-With the city being run by gangsters,...

Unfortunately, the same gangsters that are running Washington.

@Tim, you are almost right, except that Chicago is a mean city. We have an office in Chicago, and no one likes answering their calls. I have family in Chicago, and no one likes it when they come to grandma's for Thanksgiving and Christmas. When we visit friends in Chicago, we experience rude drivers and terrible human beings who try to take advantage of you at every possible chance. The friends we do visit complain about having grown any roots there since college and feel duped by their inexperienced decision to move there. It smells bad in the summer. It's freakishly cold in the winter.

Aside from that, there is a great place to get a hot dog, and several places to get some za. And little China is always interesting to visit. Downtown can be fun if you are willing to walk long distances or pay too much in cab fair.

Millennium Park is boring unless you get some satisfaction out of flicking the bean. And that is all I've wanted to do since I turned 13.... flick the bean.

All big cities are f'ed up. All of them.

I'd rather live in Chicago, than Philly!

GO BEARS/BULLS!

Tim ;where do you live? I fled this dump ages ago.It sux having to commute here for a gig.Vacant lots,burned down and abondoned property.I guess you never drove through any cross-fire.

@flip12U2, you must have stayed on the south side. Stay north of 35th and you should be fine for the most part.

@J-Doggin, Chicago is not mean, you just need to grow a pair you sissy!

Don't blame the city because your Chicago office is full of a-holes, and don't blame the city because your family is f'd up... this is a reflection of your family not the city. In fact, just the other day my friend lost his wallet and someone found it and returned it to the address on his ID without touching anything in it.
It doesn't smell bad in the summer unless you are standing next to a dumpster (which might always smell ba
And it's winter... winter is cold, get over it.
We know how to drive and can get a little impatient with those who do not know how to drive. So just learn to drive properly, and you will be fine.

The whole city is fun and you can get everywhere by train or bus... no need to pay expensive cab fare or walk the whole length of the city, but maybe you consider 4 blocks to be a long distance. Who knows

We have plenty of great restaurants, museums, theaters(music and live acting), clubs, shopping (there are stores besides Michigan Ave), and plenty of parks (a park is a park... not an entertainment center). So stop your whining, you baby and get some class!

P.S. It's called Chinatown, not little China... are you sure you even know where Chicago is?

To sum it up - stop being a puss and grow a pair you weenie! Chicago kicks a$$!

The Mayor has his "own" "special forces" unit and "anti-missile, cloaked" air conditioned helicopter gunship he uses to commute everyday.

@AchicagoNative- Very well put! Chicago is a fabulous city. I moved up here for school 4.5 years ago and have no intentions of leaving anytime soon. My apartment is a 15 minute train ride to downtown, 15 minute walk to the lakefront and beaches, and a 10 minute walk to Wrigley Field. I couldn't ask for more.

@J-Doggin- Chicago definitely has some sketchy, less-desirable areas but that can be said of anywhere. I have to agree with AchicagoNative and say that you just need to buck up and grow a pair. I am a skinny little 29 year old white girl and I am always out and about in this city with no problems. You just have to be sure to remain alert and always stay smart. What fun is life when you're too scared to step out of comfort zone?

AchicagoNative....how well you know the city.Coming to work I drive down Garfield from State St. to Ashland.I remember how beautiful that stretch was during the 60's.You wouldn't want to see it now.Still work @ Cermak & Ashland.

J-Doggin doesn't need to grow a pair! He speaks the truth! Midwesterners somehow got the reputation of being friendly, gentle people, and they are among the worst I've met. I grew up in the midwest and currently live in N.J and visit NYC fairly often. The people out here have NOTHING on the bad attitudes of the midwesterners. I'd choose these wonderful people of the east coast over the midwesterners ANY DAY!

Julie-1468472

Visit LA if you want to meet some of the rudest, most self-absorbed, narcissistic people that ever lived. I've lived all over and Angelinos, by and large are the absolute worst.

All that bashed my comment. Notice how I didn't say one cross thing about an individual, yet that was your first go to. Name calling and being disrespectful.

We all know my family in Chicago is f'd up. That is why we don't like them.

And my experience about your wonderful public transportaion... I'll never do that again. Granted it has been four year since my last trip, but I doubt it as cleaned up much.

And as far as our Chicago office is concerned, they are inconsiderate a$$holes. As matter of fact, the CEO of our Chicago office kept one of my dept. co workers on the phone during Halloween a few years ago. He kept saying he needed to get off the phone to take his children out. It was 7:30 on a Friday night, and our vendor was gone for the weekend.

That aside, even our Chicago vendors try to take advantage of us,or pull one over. We are constantly having to have them resend invoices to correctly reflect billing or contracts. Or spend man hours fixing their work.

Tim, not all criminals work by assaulting you on the street. The behavior of Chicago government is typically akin to racketeering, this does impact your finances and your lifestyle, whether you realize it is happening or not.

Is it possible that those are sign language signs? I don't speak sign language so I am wondering if that is what it could be.

I thought the same thing. The two hands in the middle appear to be making the letter "r". The ones on the end, maybe the letter "c". It's hard to tell since the art work.... well... is sort of school childish looking to me.

Thats because it is well sort if school childish....they have students design the city sticker every year

My immediate impression is that is WAS designed by "elementary school kids" so that makes sense.

But, regarding so called "gang signs"... here a question about 'those kids" and "Where their ideas for symbols" would likely come from???

Possibly from "local, street corner graffiti" painted all around their ghetto neighborhoods?

Possibly MORE than possibly?

More like "probably?"

Chicago kids travel through many neighborhoods on their way to school every day, staring out of school bus windows and guess what "images often appear?"

Designed by kids?

Now it all makes perfect sense!

Skin color ratio? WTF is that statement all about Mr. texan? You wouldn't be racist now would ya?

STexan - Not sure if you are serious or not but that is the official flag of the City of Chicago. The three white strips represent the three neighborhoods of the city (North, West, South), the top blue is Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River and the lower blue strip is the South Branch of the River and the Canal. The stars are meant to represent Fort Dearborn, the Chicago Fire, and the two worlds fair's, the first in 1893 and the second in 1933.

Stexan I assume you are speaking that there is only 1 white hand? I take pride in that, as Chicago is a great melting pot of all kinds of people and I think that shows it well. Aside from it looking like a school contest for the drawing ability it really is a nice picture. People like you need to crawl away and learn to love people not color! I hope your kids marry another color besides your own and give you mixed babies that you will love and realize how much of a jackhole you are!

Hey, nothing like a Texan shooting his mouth off about something he has no clue about... like the Chicago flag. Won't be the last time, I'm sure...

And like Kjosee, I'm glad about the integration of this city, b/c I'm not so ignorant and self-doubting that I have to hate others for being different from me. My daughters grow up in a community where people see past skin color, to become friends with people without giving a crap what shade of white or brown they are.

Loser.

Thanks for the explanation irish23

I've seen STexan on other blogs, just a sh*tstirrer and a troll. Just keep walking by and ignore. =D

irish23-...that is the official flag of the City of Chicago.

Great explanation of the flag but not to correct you or confuse anyone else, the cityscape isn't on the flag.

Far Left, Asian

Middle Left, Hispanic

Middle Right, Caucasian

Far Right, Black

I hope your kids marry another color besides your own and give you mixed babies that you will love and realize how much of a jackhole you are!

I married a Chinese girl. After that, I didn't have to realize anything. She TOLD me what a jackhole I am, and still does. It took me a while, but then I finally realized, after all these years, what a Jackhole I truly am! Thanks honey! Now come home, and I'll cook you up some dog.

The stars are meant to represent Fort Dearborn, the Chicago Fire, and the two worlds fair's, the first in 1893 and the second in 1933.

I was cleaning out our neighbors (deceased) garage (he was 96) I found a ticket for the 1893 Worlds fair, a childs entry ticket. Had the pic of Ft. Dearborn on it and everything. It was his Aunts, apparently. The guy NEVER threw anything away. I sent the ticket to his Nephew. I scanned a copy, got it here somewhere. It was quite an ornate piece of work.

Since the different color hands have been brought up in the picture I thought I comment on that. Just to be clear, I DO NOT care what color a person is. I believe your actions define you not your skin color. But the people proclaiming Chicago is an integrated city racially are dead wrong. According to the Manhattan Institute of Policy Research, who studied U.S. Census Data, have determined that Chicago is the most racially segregated city in America. Chicago might be very diverse with many different races living inside the city but that does not mean that all these races are neighbors living next door to one another. So although you can be proud of the racial diversity the city potentially offers, please don't cry ignorance toward someone else when you are stating wrong information on your own.

Far Left, Asian

Middle Left, Hispanic

Middle Right, Caucasian

Far Right, Black

Hispanics have their own skin colour now? wow, when did that happen? why don't they have an indian? they should have their own colour too.

I mean let's not quibble about the fact that both ethnic groups are white(Caucasian). Let's just make it up!

@MJ - i was joking around, and sort of making fun of Tex's comment.

Besides, Indian (not Native American) are considered Asian? I though about giving a bunch of different scenarios, but just didn't have the time.

Far Left, Asian/ Northern Mediteranian (by color only)

Middle Left, Hispanic/ Middle Eastern, Indian, Native American

Middle Right, White

Right, Black.

I was also thinking Yellow, orange, vanilla, and dark brown.

It is too funny to see everyone get in such a tissy over it.

If they are gang signs, that only illustrates the gangs control over the city. For example; The administration and law enforcement being too stupid to realize gang signs when they see them. Kids drawing them in contest pictures because they are taught them at an early age which also indicates the kids are learning more on the streets and at home than they are in school.

You can bet your life that a very high percentage of Chicago people "recognize the signs" especially those who live in, live near or drive anywhere close to gang areas.

There is NO QUESTION that all the police, firefighters and EMT's not only recognize, but have actually been to meetings and/or training classes to explain and discuss the growing gang violence and "exactly HOW to recognize the various symbols".

How many people in Chicago read about and have literature around their home that at least mentions it?

How many local Chicago TV programs mention, discuss or explain growing gang related issues?

So HELLO!

Yes, OF COURSE the Chicago people, just like "city people" all around the country have a "growing awareness" of gang-related violence and know how to recognize the SIGNS... and so do ALL the children who not only live in these cities, but end up drawing DESIGNS for "stickers" just like the one being discussed in this article.

UDunnoBro,

By the same logic, the London Olympics shouldn't have had a problem with a proposed logo containing a goatse reference. To anybody who isn't familiar with the source image it just looks like two hands pulling apart the "0" in 2012 to reveal the classic 5 interlocked Olympic rings inside.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just consider yourself lucky and move along.

Speedy, have you ever lived in Chicago? I doubt it as you seem to have no knowledge of the city itself.

You are right, Sherry. A major U.S. and international city and this is their choice of artwork for city vehicles? Stick figures and finger painting were probably high on the list of options, also!

The only artworks accepted needed to not be "racist".... this one featured the most skin colors therefore automatically became "the best".

Affirmative Action "Art".

Hey, Sherry the genius... the annual stickers ARE made by grade schoolers. Try again. pjam09, you're obviously very ignorant and suffering from an inferiority complex as well.

The city Sticker competition is a big deal in Chicago. Designs are recieved from school kids all over the city and the field is narrowed down. The finalists are entered into an online vote and everyone is free to vote for their favorite one. Yes, they look like kids drew them, that's the point, we're proud of our kids.

Children make the sticker. It pays to read.

Maybe because STexan's State only has one star and is 'envious.' =d

A clear cut case of "Flag Envy".

RE: Fantomdog... just remember... there's a REASON there ain't a bumper sticker that says "don't mess with Illinois" just sayin...

However... in all fairness we DO have Rick Perry... guess that evens us out a bit huh?

JGM.Texas...we dont have that bumper sticker because we dont need to remind you! Another cowboy just blowin hot air...

If an average cop doesn't know gang sign's he/she is a poor cop. It's their job to know gang signs. The Chicago Police Department sends information to all police officers to help them identify gang signs. So the very people you are leaving this to to figure out are the very people who figured it out. I don't know about you but I'm not looking to drive around Chicago w/ a gang sign on my window.

No -- the "artist's" intent was to include gang signs on the city's sticker -- it's very simple, and very obvious.

I too thought that it could be sign language signs when I saw the hands.

I agree, if we let them claim the heart symbol then we are allowing the gangs to run the city.

@Sapienti Sat-most corrupt? I thought that would have been New York or Boston, after all they claim to be number one in everyhting else. BTW, what gang would you suggest? Inquiring minds want to know.

Prove it or shut it!

Like my Man Ron White says,"that's second hand I don't give a @!$%#".

Hmmm, Chicago, "representing hope", ladies and gentlemen, I give you the President Obama 2012 campaign sticker. He's going to need all the union firemen, police and EMS members he can get to win.

And their President

....................BINGO.................

Yeah Ed (nice name, very distinguished). back in the 50s, when I was in the Army, stationed in Bitburg, Germany, and my buddy from Chi-town mentioned where he was from, the usual response was (making like a tommy gun) going "Dat-dat-dat-dat". Even the Germans, and a few French knew about Chicago!

Yep...and you've been listening to too many Ray Stevens songs.