Alaska Flag

Have you ever wondered what is the state flag of Alaska and what does it look like?
For the fan of astronomy the flag of Alaska is surely a very pretty side. The state flag of Alaska has a dark blue background that bears eight stars The star in the upper right corner symbolizes the North star and in the lower left area of the Alaska flag the other seven stars are arranged to display the Big Dipper constellation. Have you ever wondered: “Who designed the Alaska State flag?”. In 1927 a 13-year old Alaska Native, Benny Benson designed the Alaska State flag. He took part in a competition to create a flag for the former Alaska Territory. Before the creation of the flag of Alaska only the US state flag was used and flown in Alaska since it was purchased from Russia in 1867. Benny Benson’s design was chosen from 700 entries that where submitted by other schoolchildren statewide. A lot of other entries also displayed the state seal, northern lights, polar bears, midnight suns and gold pans. As a reward for his great design, Benny was awarded 1000 Dollars and an engraved watch. Benny had chosen his design with the Alaskan sky in mind. In his words he described that the blue color stood for the Alaskan sky and the Alaskan flower the forget-me-not. The North Star is a representative of the Alaskan future as the farthest northern state in the American union and the Ursa Major or Big Dipper, a representation of the great bear to symbolize strength. Alaska’s flag is so symbolic that it is even described in an Alaska flag song, called “Alaska Flag”. Several other United States states also have a song for their flag, but most of the flags were not designed by a creative teen as Benny.

Pictures of the Alaska flag can be founding newer history books and museums. Several web pages online also display Alaska flag pictures. Alaska’s state flag can even be used as educational coloring fun, if you download a printable Alaska flag. On some pages you might find besides the Alaska flag picture also pictures of the region it belongs to and some of the history of Alaska and the short history of the state flag of Alaska. If you type Alaska + flag into your search engine, several pages with topics and information pop up instantly and are readily available for any kind of research.