Alaska State Flag

Alaska state flag - Image from Wikipedia Commons

Alaska State Flag Symbols:

• Eight Gold Stars: The North Star and Polaris, the Big Dipper
• The Big Dipper is also known as The Great Bear
• Its colors recall the Alaskan sky and its gold.
• The North Star represented future Statehood

The flag was adopted as the official flag for the Territory of Alaska on May 2, 1927.
The drafters of the Alaska constitution stipulated that the territorial flag would become the Official Alaska State Flag in 1959.

Biographical Information on Benny Benson (John Ben Benson Jr.), Designer of the Alaskan State Flag

Born in Chignik Alaska, Benny Benson lost his mother at the age of three. He and his siblings were sent by his father to a Mission located in Unalaska, which later moved to Seward, Alaska. It was here that Benny designed the state flag.

Benny Benson was only 13 years old, and in the 7th grade, when he designed Alaska’s flag in 1927. He attended the Jesse Lee Methodist Mission home and school in Seward when he received the news that his design had won. The American Legion had asked the school children of Alaska to create designs for the State Flag of Alaska. For Bobby’s design for the Alaskan flag he received a $1,000 scholarship and an inscribed watch. He attended a diesel mechanics school with the award in 1938. The watch that he received in the contest was later donated to the Alaska State Museum in 1963.

When Bobby left school he hunted foxes with his father until the fur market crashed in the great depression. He moved to Seattle to attend diesel school, and got married and settled down. He later returned to Kodiak, Alaska with his two daughters, where he fished and learned airplane mechanics.

Source: The Alaska State Library – Historical Collections

Learning Links for the Alaska State Flag

Alaska Flag Gazette
A workbook on the Alaska State Flag in PDF form.
Source: Alaska State Library