Hi Folks Patrick Page here with Flag-Works over America How are you doing today.  I’m here today to talk about the Alaska state flag   More than 30 years before Alaska  became a state, they held a design contest for a flag.  A seventh grade Aleut student, John Bell Benson  known as Benny won that contest. the design had a blue background to represent the sky and the Forget-me-not flower.

On that background were placed eight gold stars to represent the Big Dipper and the North Star.

The Big Dipper forms part of the constellation Ursa Major or Great Bear; symbolizing strength.  The North Star is the perfect representation for the future state of Alaska, it being the most northerly state in the Union.

This simple design was adopted by the Alaska Territorial Legislature in  May, 1927  So Benny for winning the contest received a gold watch with the flag engraved on it and  had a Thousand dollars applied to his schooling to become an diesel mechanic.    Benny was also scheduled to present the flag to President Calvin Coolidge, but never made it.  So in 1959, When Alaska become apart of the United States,  Benny’s design became the official Alaska State flag  Please visit flag-works.com for your Alaska State flag and all your other flag needs