Territory of Alaska

Date: 1926

Description: Blue field with gold stars in the pattern of the Big Dipper. [X08]

The American Legion conducted the Alaskan flag contest, in which all the boys and girls in the upper grades of school could participate.

Thirteen year old Benny Benson, a Native American boy from the village of Chignika, submitted a design very different from all the rest. The design pictured the part of the Alaskan sky at night. It pictures the Big Dipper and the North Star which always remains directly over the North Pole.This is the most important group of stars in the sky for many Alaskans for it tells them in which direction they are traveling.

The flag was adopted the official state flag of Alaska in 1959.

Fun facts about Alaska . . .