49 Star Flag - (1959-1960) (U.S.)

Last modified: 2010-08-13 by rick wyatt
Keywords: forty-nine | united states |
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image by Mark Sensen, 4 December 1997

• Description of the flag

See also:

• History of the Stars and Stripes
• U.S. Historical flags
• United States of America

Description of the flag

In 1959, one star was added, representing Alaska, bringing the total number of stars to 49. There were thirteen stripes representing the thirteen original colonies.
Rick Wyatt, 5 April 1998

Although the 49 star flag first became valid at 4 July 1959, it apparently was prepared beforehand, in 1958, and was made public as soon as the proclamation was signed on 2 January 1959:

• At www.alaskastock.com is an image of the Anchorage Daily News front page for Monday, 30 June 1958, immediately after the United States' Congress approved the Alaska Statehood Act. They use a (grey) 49-star Stars & Stripes as the background for the Front Page, but one with a pattern of 7 straight rows of 7 stars each.
• At vilda.alaska.edu is an image of the Anchorage Daily Times front page for 3 ?] January 1959, reporting the signing of the Alaska Proclamation, which has made Alaska the 49th state. Below the main articles a smaller headline reads: "Ike Unfurls New 49-Star Flag".
• At www.eisenhower.archives.gov are photographs of the signing of the Alaska Proclamation and the unfurling of the new flag, with 49 stars in staggered rows.