Why is the big dipper a symbol on the Alaskan flag?

Answer 1

The 'Pole Star' is the last star at the end of the little dipper's handle.

If you look at the little dipper at a few different times, and keep track of the position in which it appears each time,
you'll see that it spins around like the hand of a clock, as if the end of the handle is nailed down. That star at the
end of the handle is the 'Pole Star' or 'North Star' or 'Polaris'. It's very close to the point in the sky that Earth's north pole
points to; so everything in the sky appears to rotate daily around that star.

Answer 2

Benny Benson designed the Alaskan flag in 1927 (he was 13 at the time).

He submitted the following description with his design:

"The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaskan flower. The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the union. The Big Dipper is for the Great Bear - symbolizing strength."

Answer 3

I have never heard that before I guess it kind of looks like it, but I do know that the star at the end of the handle of the dipper is the north star. So that might be were that comes from Alaska being in the north and all.

Answer 4

No. The two "pointer stars" Merak and Dubhe, at the lip of the bowl of the Big Dipper, point to Polaris. Polaris is actually in the Little Dipper asterism (in the constellation Ursa Minor) at the tip of the handle, or the tip of the little bear's tail.

Answer 5

The Alaskan flag is a stylised big dipper (Ursa Major) with the North Star (Polaris)

Answer 6

Yes, the North Star, Polaris, is at the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper.

Answer 7

Nope. Not even close.

Answer 8

Ursa Major.