Alaska State Flags

History of the Alaska State Flag

The Alaska State Flag was designed by Benny Benson, a 13-year-old native Aleut student at the Jesse Lee Home for Children in Seward, Alaska, in 1926 as part of a contest to create a flag for the Territory of Alaska. Benson's design was chosen out of approximately 700 entries and was officially adopted as the Alaska Territory flag by the Alaska Department of Education on July 9, 1927. When Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959, the flag was retained as the state flag.

The flag consists of eight gold stars arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper and the North Star on a dark blue field. The Big Dipper is a prominent constellation in the northern sky, and the North Star (also known as Polaris) is a bright star located close to the north celestial pole and is used as a navigational aid. The blue field represents the sky, the sea, and the mountain lakes of Alaska, and the gold stars represent the Big Dipper and the North Star.

The design of the Alaska State Flag is intended to symbolize the state's natural beauty and rich history. The Big Dipper and the North Star are also symbols of Alaska's indigenous peoples, who have used these celestial features for centuries as a way to navigate and mark the changing seasons.