 | Heraldry and vexillology Stub‑class | ||||||
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 | Alaska Stub‑class High‑importance | |||||||||
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Eight stars of gold on field of blue... The Big Dipperisreally out of whack on this graphic. I think the stars are all the same size as well. -- Decumanus 18:05, 7 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Why is one of the stars bigger than the other ones? Keyboard mouse (talk) 00:27, 23 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
That picture does suck, it's more because the placement and the color of the stars, I've been trying to replace all the alaskan flags I find on wikipedia to "File:Alaskaflag.gif" but yes, the north star is a little bit bigger than the rest, fitting as it is the brightest in the alaskan sky, and it is known as the bear, which symbolizes strength. - duck_that_quacks_alot 11:00, 14 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I reverted the .gif image of the Flag of Alaska. The stars are based on Ursa Major (the Big Dipper), and the .gif image did not portray these quite right. SVGs are preferred over .gifs in either case. Does anyone have a copy of the official law as signed by the Alaskan legislature? I would like to make sure the flag is accurate to the written law. In particular, I would like information on the size of the stars and position on the fly and hoist. -DevinCook (talk) 10:43, 15 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The Russian American Company flag was authorized under Czar Alexander I in 1806. It was the first special flag granted by the Russian Government to any private company. The proposal to establish the flag was submitted by the Minister of Trade N. P. Rumiantsev, who devoted much attention to the Company and personally financed several scientific expeditions. (Port Rumiantsev, the Russian shipping and harbor facility at Bodega Bay was later named for him.) The flag was granted on September 19, 1806 by the St. Petersburg offices. The RAC flag was authorized to be raised over Russian fortifications and on Company ships in place of naval flags. This gave special recognition to the Company in the international trade world.
The flag flew over all Russian American Company settlements, including Fort Ross. The RAC flag has three stripes, the lower red, the middle blue, and the upper and wider stripe white. Painted on the flag is the Russian imperial crest, the double headed eagle. A ribbon hanging from the talons of the eagle is the inscription ‘Russo-American Company.’ On the breast of the double headed eagle is a square with a red shield and St. George on a white steed looking to the left. Between 1818 and 1831 a professional artist was hired by the Company specially to make and draw the emblem on the flags. The Company used six to ten flags annually.
Flags were probably flown on a daily basis at the Ross Colony and in Alaska. Certainly, they were always flown for special occasions such as the arrival of ships and visiting dignitaries, and celebrations of any sort.
The flag flew over Alaska until October 18th, 1867 when all Russian American Company holdings in Alaska were sold to the United States.[1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by UeArtemis (talk • contribs) 20:22, 23 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
