Catalog

Statehood 1959, the 50th state

Year Flag Adopted: 1927 (statehood in 1959)

Alaska became a possession of the United States in 1867, a Territory in 1912, and the 50th U.S. State in 1959. Alaska was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army (1867 -1877), the Treasury Dept. (1877-1879) and the Navy (1879-1884). A civil government operated starting in 1884, the designation becoming the "District of Alaska", prior to Territory status achieved in 1912.

The design of the official flag is eight gold stars in a field of blue. The blue typifies the evening sky, the blue of the sea and mountain lakes, the gold being the wealth that lies hidden in Alaska's hills and streams. The eight stars, seven of which form the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, the most conspicuous constellation in the northern sky, contains the stars which form the "Dipper," including the "Pointers" which point toward the eighth star in the flag, Polaris, the North Star. For Alaska, the northernmost star in the galaxy of stars represents Alaska, the forty-ninth star in the national emblem.

The flag of the Territory of Alaska is the official flag of the state. The standard proportions and size graphically delineated herein shall be used in the manufacture of the official flag of Alaska. The stars shall be the color of natural yellow-gold, and the field of blue shall be of the same shade of blue used in the official manufacture of the national emblem of the United States. (ref. Alaska State Legislature, title 44) January 2014.