Alaska's Flag & Song

Flag designed by Benny Benson, a 13 year old boy, in 1926
Flag adopted by the Legislature on May 2, 1927.
Alaska's State song was written by Marie Drake
(an employee of the Alaska Department of Education)
and first appeared as a poem in 1925.
Set to music by Elinor Dusenbury, whose husband was commander of Chilkoot Barracks at Haines from 1933 to 1936.
Adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1955.

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue
Alaska's flag may it mean to you,
the blue of the sea, the evening sky,
the mountain lakes, and the flow'rs nearby,
the gold of the early sourdough's dreams,
the precious gold of the hills and streams,
the brilliant stars in the northern sky,
the "Bear" - the "Dipper" - and, shining high,
the great North Star with its steady light,
over land and sea a beacon bright,
Alaska's flag - to Alaskans dear,
the simple flag of a last frontier.