FLAG HISTORY:
The flag of Alaska consists of eight gold stars, forming the Big Dipper and the North Star, on a dark blue field. It was designed in 1927 by Benny Benson, a 13-year-old Alaska Native residing in Seward, for a contest to create a flag for the then-Alaska Territory. Benson's design, one of 142 entries submitted by Alaskan schoolchildren in grades 7–12, noted:

"The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaskan flower. The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the union. The Dipper is for the Great Bear—symbolizing strenth (sic)." The design was chosen unanimously and adopted as the territorial flag that year, and became the state flag upon statehood in 1959.

The flag's symbolism is also described in the state song, "Alaska's Flag".