FORTISVEX 49 Star U.S. Flag 5x8 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

49 Star U.S. Flag History

Alaska became the forty-ninth state on January 3, 1959. Congress had passed the statehood act in 1958, but President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s January proclamation completed the admission. The new star became official on July 4, 1959. The forty-nine-star flag remained the national design through July 3, 1960, giving it a much shorter official period than either its forty-eight-star predecessor or the fifty-star flag that followed. National Archives: Alaska statehood; Smithsonian: flag chronology.

Planning for a new flag had begun well before admission. The Eisenhower administration considered the possibility of adding Alaska and Hawaii as early as 1953. In 1958 officials reviewed proposed arrangements, and Eisenhower expressed a preference for seven staggered rows of seven stars. Executive Order 10798, issued on January 3, 1959, established the forty-nine-star design. The executive order and the later July start are separate milestones, showing how the flag could be designed and announced before its official use began. Eisenhower Presidential Library: design decisions.

The prospect of a new star also invited public participation. The National Archives preserves submitted designs and correspondence, including proposals from Nancy Lee Andrews and Ronald Becker. Their drawings and letters show Americans responding to statehood as a visual problem as well as a political event. These submissions are evidence of the discussion surrounding the redesign; they should not be mistaken for proof that every proposed layout was adopted or that a particular contributor designed the official flag. National Archives: proposed forty-nine-star designs.

The illustrated canton has seven offset rows of seven white stars, retaining thirteen alternating stripes. The new flag was formally raised at Fort McHenry on July 4, 1959. Hawaii joined the Union on August 21, 1959, after that year’s July change, so the fiftieth star waited until July 4, 1960. The forty-nine-star design therefore remained official for most of a year in which the United States already had fifty states, a useful reminder that statehood dates and official flag dates follow different schedules. National Park Service: Hawaii’s admission; Eisenhower Presidential Library: the Fort McHenry flag raisings.

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