A century later, officials correct the age of Benny Benson, the boy who designed Alaska’s flag

More than 30 years before Alaska became a state, teenager Benny Benson designed its flag.

For decades, officials believed Benson was 13 years old when he created the iconic design — featuring eight gold stars on a blue background — in 1926. But researchers discovered recently that his age has been wrongly documented for nearly a century: He was actually 14 at the time.

Now, 109 years after Benson was born and nearly a century since he designed the flag, Alaska is correcting its history.

Dr. Michael Livingston, a cultural heritage specialist at the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, said he was working with a group of other researchers who enjoy looking at family trees when they discovered Benson was marked at two locations during the 1920 census. The finding took them down a five-year path that examined Benson’s cultural heritage and also led to the discovery of the error in his birthdate.

The age confusion likely started with Benson himself, the state health department wrote in a statement Thursday. Benson registered to serve in World War II during 1940 and was required to submit a birth certificate, which he didn’t have. Benson believed he was born Oct. 12, 1913, and was therefore issued a birth certificate with that date by the Unga Territory Court.

But birth and baptismal records discovered recently from a Russian Orthodox priest in Chignik, in the Aleutian Islands, reported Benson was born Sept. 12, 1912.

Benson’s mother died when he was 3 years old, and he and his brother became orphans. Benson lived at orphanages in Unalaska and Seward.

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While living at Seward’s Jesse Lee Home for Children in 1926, he entered a contest inviting children to design a flag for the Territory of Alaska. Three designs were forwarded from each village to Juneau, and Benson’s design — with seven stars forming the Big Dipper, and the eighth representing the North Star — came in third place for Seward, Livingston said.

Benson stood out from the other competitors because he was poor and Alaska Native, originally believed to have been Alutiiq, Livingston said. He nearly withdrew from the competition because he’d been upset by the third-place standing, according to Livingston.

“But against all odds, Benny won,” he said. Nearly a century later, Benson’s design is flown as Alaska’s state flag, and mountains, streets, airports and schools have been named after him. He died in Kodiak at 59 years old.

Livingston said researchers also looked into Benson’s mother during the project and discovered her maiden name was different than previously reported.

In a paper detailing their findings, the group of researchers wrote that they discovered Benson’s mother was born in Unalaska, which is Unangax̂ territory, which would mean that Benson was a member of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska. He had previously been believed to be Alutiiq.

“Benny passed away and is buried in Kodiak,” the paper said. “Kodiak is Alutiiq territory, and this may explain why Benny is often identified as Alutiiq. Yet Alaska Native ancestry is not defined solely upon where we move to later in life or the geographical location where we are born or are buried. Alaska Native ancestry is defined by where our ancestors are born and lived.”

Livingston brought some of the findings to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services’ Health Analytics and Vital Records and connected with one of Benson’s relatives. The family member requested that the birth certificate be corrected, and the State of Alaska Museum convened an expert panel, which reviewed the findings and unanimously supported the corrections.

Livingston then submitted the findings to a Superior Court judge who issued an order Feb. 28 that would correct Benson’s date of birth and his mother’s maiden name.

He expected more information about Benson to emerge, now that the record is being corrected.

“It’s been like trying to solve a really complex mystery that keeps on taking these twists and turns,” Livingston said. “But it’s also a little stressful because we want to get this right and we’re doing the best we can.”