Flag of Alaska

Facts about the Flag of Alaska

1. Benny Benson was thirteen and living at an orphanage in Seward when he won the 1927 territorial design competition, beating roughly seven hundred other entries.
2. His submitted explanation — blue for the sky and the forget-me-not, the Dipper for the Great Bear meaning strength, the North Star for the future state of Alaska — is still quoted in full by the state.
3. The flag flew for thirty-two years over a territory before Alaska became a state in 1959, and was adopted unchanged.
4. The flag of Alaska was officially adopted on May 2, 1927.
5. The flag in its present form is 99 years old as of 2026.
6. Design type: Blue field with the Big Dipper and Polaris in gold.
7. The official proportions are 125:177.
8. The flag uses 2 colours: blue and gold.
9. The blue on the flag stands for the sky, the sea, mountain lakes and the forget-me-not, the state flower.
10. The gold on the flag stands for the state’s gold.
11. Big Dipper: Part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, standing for strength.
12. North Star: Alaska as the northernmost state.
13. Designer: Created in 1927 by Benny Benson, a 13-year-old orphan, for a territorial design contest.
14. The design belongs to the "Plain field with a central emblem" family, shared with 70 other flags in this reference.
15. Flags most often confused with it: Aruba, Brazil and Connecticut.
16. Alaska joined the Union on 3 January 1959, as the 49th state.
17. Dog mushing is the official state sport.
18. The state is nicknamed The Last Frontier.