Alaskans struck gold with their state symbols, especially the state flag and flower (the forget-me-not), which so elegantly complement each other.
The flag is one of America’s most beautiful banners. A golden constellation (the Great Bear, or Big Dipper) and North Star set against a deep blue background represent Alaska’s waters, the sky and heavens and the gold and forget-me-nots that glitter beneath.
Alaska’s flag was designed by a youth named Benny Benson. His mother was half Aleut, a race that scarcely survived the Russians who colonized Alaska and the World War II Japanese labor camps and American internment camps. The flag has also inspired some of Alaska’s most beautiful poetry, some of it officially designated.
Benny’s flag is perhaps the only symbol that truly represents the entire state, which is as diverse as it is vast. The Sitka spruce represents the majestic forests of southern Alaska, especially the rugged mountains of Southeast Alaska. The willow ptarmigan is a quick-change artist that is popularly associated with the Far North.
Alaska’s official land mammal is the moose, a beast that largely replaces cattle in the Alaska “bush,” a vast region of interior forests and tundra laced with willow-lined rivers. The state marine mammal is the bowhead whale, a denizen of polar seas. The king salmon is a state fish that swims in more southern seas, as well as Alaska’s winding rivers.
Alaskans sometimes joke that their unofficial state bird is the mosquito. The official state insect is the four-spot skimmer dragonfly.
Earth Symbols
Gold (the state mineral) is far more widely associated with Alaska than jade (the state gem). The state fossil is the woolly mammoth, which reminds us that the Ice Age had an enormous impact on Alaska.
Alaska even has an official soil, Estelle.
Alaskana
There are many distinctive things in Alaska that are popularly regarded as unofficial symbols, such as mukluks and bush planes. If Alaskans ever adopt an official food, it will almost certainly be sourdough. A good candidate for state dessert might be Eskimo ice cream, even if Eskimos are among the few people who appreciate it. A competition for state vegetable would surely invite inspection of the giant cabbages that make the Alaska State Fair world famous.
Official poet? That honor would surely go to the man who wrote this memorable passage:
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee
Of course, his name is Robert Service. He also wrote about such unofficial Alaska symbols as permafrost and ice worms. Like everyone who has experienced an Alaskan winter, he was entranced by the northern lights.
North to the Future
Alaska’s motto is a courageous North to the Future. And many people would like to believe that Alaskans will get there via dog mushing, the state sport.
But Alaska’s future is very uncertain. While the nickname Land of the Midnight Sun is secure, the nickname The Last Frontier was seriously impeached by the Alaska Pipeline. Global warming and the likely invasion of the fabled Arctic National Wildlife Region by oil corporations suggest the nickname Land of the Midnight Wilderness.
Alaska’s official sport is a reminder that many Alaskans want to preserve their unique heritage, even as the state races towards its uncertain future. While Texans rally round their flag, Alaskans rally under theirs, both humbled and inspired by the simple grandeur that surrounds them.
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