The Story Of The Alaska Flag
Benny Benson
The Alaska state
flag was designed by John Bell (Benny) Benson, a thirteen year-old in an
orphanage in Seward, Alaska.
Benny Benson responded to a contest sponsored by the Alaska Department of
the American Legion in 1926 and he was awarded two prizes in 1927, A gold watch
engraved with the flag and a $1000 trip to Washington, D.C.. to present the flag
to President Coolidge.
Benny never went to Washington, D.C. to present the flag to President Coolidge.
First his father was ill, and then President Coolidge was out of the country, so
the $1000 was put to his education instead.
Benny wrote "the blue in the flag is for the state flower (Forget-me-not) and
the Alaskan sky. The gold is for the natural wealth. The Big Dipper and North
Star are symbolic for Alaska's position in relation to the heavens."
All the designs for the contest, as well as Benny's prize--the gold watch
engraved with the flag--are in the Alaska State Museum in Juneau.
The flag was adopted by the Territorial Legislature in May, 1927 as Alaska's
official flag. It is dark blue, with eight five-pointed gold stars in the shape
of the constellation Ursa Major (the great bear--also known as the "big dipper")
and a larger gold star representing the pole star, Polaris. When Alaska entered
the Union in 1959, the territorial flag became the state flag.
Source:
Velma Moos Potter
God Flies Benny's Flag
Frontier Publishing, Seattle, 1989
The first time the Alaska flag was flown was on July 9, 1927. Here is a
description of the event:
'' At the hour of 4 o'clock p.m., Saturday (July 9), the official flag of Alaska
was flung to the breezes for the first time on the flagpole at the Jesse Lee
Home, one and a half mile north of the City of Seward. Those officiating at the
ceremony were Captain Ralph P. Guthrie of the United States Signal Corps and
Privates Edwin S. Diehl and Charles Harris.
Benny Benson, 13 year old student of the Jesse Lee Home, designer of the flag,
attached it to the halyards just before the National Anthem, and stood at
attention while the multicolored folds of Old Glory and the deep violet blue of
Alaska's official emblem, studded with the golden stars of the Big Dipper
pointing to the North Star, fluttered about him.
While the people of the home sang the National Anthem, the troop of Boy Scouts
standing at attention and in salute, and citizens of Seward and dignitaries of
the Methodist Episcopal Church stood uncovered, the halyards tightened and
climbing into the brilliant sunshine of a perfect day, Old Glory led her child
to the top-most heights of the towering flagpole, where both straightened out
and fluttered proudly in the cooling breezes blowing in from Resurrection Bay.''
Source:
Seward Gateway
July 11, 1927
Benny Benson also picked the forget-me-not as the territorial flower, now the state flower.
The Resurrection Bay
Historical Society Museum
is the home of one of the two original Alaska Flags... the other is in Juneau
along with Benny Benson's watch he received from the contest. Most all the
information on Benny Benson is on display in this Seward museum. They have no
web URL so you will need to write to the address below for information.
The Resurrection Bay
Historical Society Museum
336 3rd Avenue
P.O. Box 55
Seward, Alaska 99664
907-224-3902
© 1999/2001 Safety
Educational Services | All Rights Reserved.
