Illinois' battle flags were moved to the first floor of the new Capitol in 1878 and in 1884 they were transferred to cases in the old Art Gallery on the third floor, which had been refurbished as the new Memorial Hall.  Large murals depicting Lincoln, Grant, and a Civil War soldier were painted on the upper walls of this lofty room.  The room was dedicated during ceremonies participated in by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman on March 26, 1884, in the presence of hundreds of Civil War veterans.  In 1886 the flags were moved, yet again, to a larger area prepared in the southwest corner of the first floor of the Capitol. What is now Room 400 has served several different purposes since the removal of Memorial Hall, but in the mid-1930's, the ceiling was lowered and this art was lost.  The murals were discovered in 1971 when the false ceiling was removed.  A floor was constructed on the fourth floor level and the area was made into a Senate hearing room.  The walls and ceiling in Room 400 have recently been restored to their 1880s appearance. 

In 1918 Springfield artist George H. Schanbacher painted the eagles and shields between the corbel statues in the upper rotunda as part of Illinois' centennial celebration.  The shields have 10 stars on either side of a blue ribbon with a large white star in the center.  This represents 10 northern and 10 southern states at the time Illinois was admitted to the Union, with the large white star representing Illinois, the 21st state.  This shield was modeled after the centennial flag designed by Wallace Rice.  Mr. Rice also designed the city flag of Chicago.  Schanbacher also decorated the ceiling of the State Library (now Senate offices) with murals of owls in 1888.  He returned in 1923 and painted over his earlier work when the Library was converted into a legislative lounge.