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 |
 More
than 30 years before Alaska was to become a state, the Alaska
Department of the American Legion sponsored a territorial
contest for a flag of Alaska.
Contest rules for the
Flag of Alaska were circulated throughout the Alaska Territory
in January, 1927. The flag of Alaska rules stipulated that the first stage of
the competition would take place at a local level. Each town
would set up a panel of judges that would determine the ten
best local Flag of Alaska designs and forward these to Juneau
where the final flag of Alaska competition would take place. A total of 142
Flag of Alaska designs were forwarded to Juneau.
Several interesting
flag of Alaska concepts were represented, and eventually rejected.
Most of
the flag of Alaska concepts were rejected as too specific to one or another
certain aspect of the vast Alaska Territory. A couple Flag of
Alaska designs centered around Polar Bears. One flag of Alaska design
displayed a Polar Bear on an iceberg. Another had a Polar Bear
balancing at the top of the globe. Other flag of Alaska
designs depicted imagery
representing the fishing and mining industries of Alaska. Some
Flag of Alaska concepts centered around the territorial seal.
The winner of the Flag of Alaska contest was a seventh
grade Aleut student, thirteen year old John Bell (Benny)
Benson, from Chignik. He was living in an orphanage in Seward,
the Jesse Lee Mission Home, at the time of the flag of Alaska contest.
He designed the present
Flag of Alaska with 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. Benny's simple, Flag of Alaska design was adopted by the
Alaska Territorial Legislature in May, 1927.
For his Flag of
Alaska, Benny received first prize, a gold watch that was
engraved with his flag design. In addition, the Alaska
Legislature awarded Benny $1,000 toward a trip to Washington,
D.C. to present the Flag of Alaska to President Calvin
Coolidge. Unfortunately, the trip to Washington never took
place due to prior commitments of the President. Though Benny
never made it to Washington, his Flag of Alaska became the
Official "State" Flag of Alaska when Alaska joined the Union in 1959.
The Alaska Legislature decided to apply Benny's flag of Alaska award of
$1,000 to his education. Benny chose to study diesel
mechanics. |
