Flag of Alaska

Alaska

Use	Civil and state flag
Proportion	125:177
Adopted	May 2, 1927; 97 years ago (1927-05-02)
Design	An eight gold stars, in the shape of "the big dipper" on a dark blue field. The North Star is larger than the other 7.
Designed by	Benny Benson

The state flag of Alaska displays eight gold stars, forming the Big Dipper and Polaris, on a dark blue field. The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major, which symbolizes a bear, indigenous to Alaska. As depicted on the flag, its stars can be used as a guide by the novice to locate Polaris and determine true north.

The design was created by Benny Benson of Seward and selected from among roughly 700 entries in a 1927 contest. In 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association placed Alaska's flag fifth best in design quality out of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state, and U.S. territory flags ranked. It finished behind the flags of New Mexico, Texas, Quebec, and Maryland respectively.^[1]