Alaska
100% American-made Alaska State Flags
Alaska became the 49th state of the Union on January 3, 1959 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill allowing Alaska to become a state. Alaska is the largest but most sparsely populated, and third least-populated of all 50 states in the US.
Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1887 for two cents per acre for a total of $7.2 million. Alaska became an organized US territory on 1912 and remained so until January 3, 1959.
The State Flag of Alaska was originally designed in 1927 by 13-year old Benny Benson of Seward Alaska and selected from among roughly 700 entries in a contest for children in grades seven through 12. The contest was sponsored by the Alaska Department of the American Legion more than 30 years prior to Alaska officially becoming a state.
The Alaska State Flag is a seemingly simple design of eight gold stars on a dark blue background. The seven smaller stars form the big dipper, a constellation in Ursa major which symbolizes a bear. The stars in the Big Dipper can be used to find Polaris, or the North Star, which is symbolized in the flag by the largest of the eight stars.
