View source for Alaska's Flag

{{Short description|State song of Alaska}}
{{about|the state song of Alaska|its flag|Flag of Alaska}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox anthem
| title         = ''Alaska's Flag''
| image         = Alaska School Bulletin cover October 1936 issue, showing Alaska's Flag poem.jpg
| image_size    =
| caption       = The front cover of the October 1936<br>issue of ''Alaska School Bulletin'',<br>highlighting Marie Drake's poem.
| alt_title     = Beyond Your Dreams Within Your Reach
| prefix        = State
| country       = {{Flag|Alaska}}
| author        = [[Marie Drake]]
| lyrics_date   = 1935
| composer      = Elinor Dusenbury 
| music_date    = 1938
| adopted       = 1959
| until         =
| sound         = Alaskan State Anthem vocal.wav
| sound_title   = Alaska's Flag
}}
[[File:Alaska Anthem Instrumental.ogg|thumb|Alaska's Flag (instrumental)]]
'''''Alaska's Flag''''' is the [[List of U.S. state songs|regional anthem]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Alaska]]. It was adopted in 1959, as Alaska became the 49th state.

==Lyrics==
Unique among [[List of U.S. state songs|state songs]], its [[lyrics]] explain the [[symbol]]ism of the [[Flag of Alaska|Alaskan flag]]. The lyrics are:
<blockquote>
[[Flag of Alaska|Eight stars of gold on a field of blue]]<br>
Alaska's flag. May it mean to you<br>
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,<br>
The [[Geography of Alaska|mountain lakes]], and the [[Myosotis|flow'rs]] nearby;<br>
The gold of the early sourdough's dreams,<br>
The [[Klondike Gold Rush|precious gold]] of the [[Geography of Alaska|hills and streams]];<br>
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,<br>
The "[[Ursa Major|Bear]]," the "[[Big Dipper|Dipper]]," and, shining high,<br>
The great [[Polaris|North Star]] with its steady light,<br>
O'er land and sea a beacon bright.<br>
Alaska's [[Flag of Alaska|flag]] to [[Alaska|Alaskans]] dear,<br>
The simple flag of a last frontier. <br><ref name=flag_story>{{cite web
|last = Spartz
|first = India
|title = Eight Stars of Gold: The Story of Alaska's Flag
|publisher = Alaska State Museums, Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums, Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
|date = 2001
|url = http://www.museums.state.ak.us/EightStars/src/exhibit_catalog.pdf
|access-date = 21 April 2011
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110521082006/http://www.museums.state.ak.us/EightStars/src/exhibit_catalog.pdf
|archive-date = 21 May 2011
|url-status = dead
}}</ref><br>
</blockquote>

The connection between the song and the flag happened both by design and circumstance. It was the result of the linkage among three individuals: [[Benny Benson]], [[Marie Drake]], and Elinor Dusenbury. They did not directly collaborate, but instead, Marie Drake built on the work of Benny Benson, and Elinor Dusenbury built on the work of the other two. Benson inspired the effort, Drake wrote the lyrics, and Dusenbury composed the song.<ref name=flag_story/>

==History==
[[File:Flag of Alaska.svg|thumb|The flag of the state of Alaska]]
Alaska's official flag is based on Benny Benson's design, which was submitted in a Territory-wide contest for schoolchildren sponsored by the [[American Legion]] in 1926. At that time Benny was a thirteen-year-old seventh-grader of [[Russia]]n-[[Aleut people|Aleut]] and [[Sweden|Swedish]] descent, studying at the Territorial School at [[Seward, Alaska|Seward]] and a resident of the [[Jesse Lee Home for Children|Jesse Lee Mission Home]]. The Alaska Territorial Legislature officially adopted his design on May 2, 1927. The proclamation praised his winning entry for, "its simplicity, its originality and its symbolism." On the design submission, Benny had written the following words of explanation: “The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the [[forget-me-not]], an Alaska flower. The [[North Star]] is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. The dipper is for the [[Ursa Major|Great Bear]] — symbolizing strength.”<ref name=Benny_Benson>{{cite web|title=Alaska State Flag, and Song, Intertwined Around Benny Benson |publisher=University of Alaska, Stories |url=http://www.alaska.edu/opa/eInfo/index.xml?StoryID=186 |access-date=April 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101116004459/http://www.alaska.edu/opa/eInfo/index.xml?StoryID=186 |archive-date=November 16, 2010 }}</ref>

[[Alaska Department of Education]] employee Marie Drake echoed Benny Benson's explanation of his design in a poem she wrote in 1935. Marie Drake had become the Territorial Assistant Commissioner of Education in 1934.<ref name=Marie_Drake>{{cite web|title=FAQ ALASKA - Frequently Asked Questions About Alaska: Marie Drake |work=Statewide Library Electronic Doorway |publisher=University of Alaska Fairbanks |year=2001 |url=http://sled.alaska.edu/akfaq/akmarie.htm |access-date=April 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727143049/http://sled.alaska.edu/akfaq/akmarie.htm |archive-date=July 27, 2011 }}</ref>
She edited and wrote most of the material for the ''School Bulletin'', which was circulated throughout the Territorial school system. The poem first appeared on the cover of the October 1935 ''School Bulletin''.<ref name = Benny_Benson/>

Elinor Dusenbury soon composed a song around the poem and the flag. The wife of the Commanding Officer of the Chilkoot Barracks at [[Haines, Alaska|Haines]] from 1933 to 1936, she had fallen deeply in love with Alaska, but she left when her husband was transferred. She said, "I wrote the music for Marie's beautiful poetry from pure unadulterated homesickness for Alaska! I shed more tears on the boat going out than I ever have before or since. I had a book on Alaska with the picture  the flag and Marie's poem." In the summer of 1938, Dusenbury visited [[Juneau, Alaska|Juneau]] and played her setting of the poem for Marie on the piano at the Baranof Hotel. Happiness came to the poet's eyes.<ref name = Benny_Benson/>

The song began gradually to be played unofficially, and steadily grew in popularity over the next two decades.<ref name=AK_Song>{{cite web
 |last=Kirkeby 
 |first=Cynthia 
 |title=Alaska State Song 
 |publisher=State Reports by ClassBrain 
 |date=June 25, 2010 |url=http://www.statereports.us/2010/04/alaska-state-song/ 
 |access-date=April 22, 2011 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507032332/http://www.statereports.us/2010/04/alaska-state-song/ 
 |archive-date=May 7, 2011 }}</ref>
To the surprise and delight of both women, the Territorial Legislature adopted ''Alaska's Flag'' in 1955.<ref name = Benny_Benson/> It became the official State song when the Territory of Alaska entered the union as the 49th state in 1959.<ref name = AK_Song/>

==Historical notes==
Benny Benson chose the background color of the flag to represent both the blue sky and the forget-me-not.<ref name = Benny_Benson/> The Legislature later named the forget-me-not as the official State flower. This provides another symbolic link, one between the official State flag, the official song and the official flower.<ref name = flag_story/>

The late Carol Beery Davis, a Juneau resident and musician, wrote a second verse to the Alaska Flag song and gifted the words (protected by copyright) to the University of Alaska Foundation in 1987. It has been unsuccessfully proposed as an addition to the official lyrics several times.<ref name = Benny_Benson/> The last time was during the legislative session of 2011, but the time limit in the Senate expired before the bill could come up for a vote.<ref name=second_verse>{{cite news
 |agency=The Associated Press 
 |title=Bill to add new verse to Alaska state song hits a dead end 
 |newspaper=Anchorage Daily News 
 |date=April 15, 2011 |url=http://www.adn.com/2011/04/14/1810149/new-verse-for-alaskas-state-song.html 
 |access-date=April 22, 2011 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110421044531/http://www.adn.com/2011/04/14/1810149/new-verse-for-alaskas-state-song.html 
 |archive-date=April 21, 2011 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Portal|Alaska}}
<references/>

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070220174934/http://sled.alaska.edu/akfaq/akwords.html Alaska's Flag], lyrics, via Alaska State Library
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070313091354/http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/student_info/learn/statesong.htm Alaska's Flag], musical score and lyrics (first verse only), via Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101116004459/http://www.alaska.edu/opa/eInfo/index.xml?StoryID=186 The never-adopted second verse]
{{List of U.S. state songs|state=Alabama}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Music of Alaska]]
[[Category:United States state songs]]
[[Category:Symbols of Alaska]]
[[Category:1935 songs]]
[[Category:Songs about Alaska]]
[[Category:Anthems of non-sovereign states]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alaska's Flag}}