I could tolerate 49 stars on the flag. Here ya go!!
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
This flag flew from 4 July, 1959, to 3 July, 1960. The 49 star series became official when Alaska was admitted to the Union.
Clay Moss, 1 February 2007
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.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 24 September 2009