In July 1959, photographer B. Anthony Stewart captured an image for National Geographic's cover that would become iconic: the new 49-star American flag, its newest star representing Alaska. The cover story, titled "New Stars for Old Glory," accompanied Lonnelle Aikman's article explaining the significance of the nation's largest territorial expansion in nearly a century. Stewart's photograph marked a historic moment in both flag history and in National Geographic's own visual storytelling tradition, as it was the magazine's first cover image to feature the updated flag following Alaska's formal admission to the Union.

Alaska's path to statehood had been long and contested. The territory, purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, had spent nearly a century seeking admission while Congress debated its remote location, sparse population, and strategic importance. By the 1950s, Cold War geopolitics and Alaska's growing economic potential through oil and minerals made statehood increasingly viable. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the statehood bill into law on July 3, 1959, just days before National Geographic's July issue went to press. The 49-star flag would fly for only one year before Hawaii's admission in August 1960 would add the 50th star.

This cover represented more than a simple patriotic image. National Geographic had built its reputation on photography that captured transformative moments in American life and the natural world. By featuring Stewart's flag photograph on the cover, the magazine elevated a political and geographical milestone into visual art. The choice to lead with this image reflected the publication's understanding that major national events deserved photographic witness. Stewart's work would help define how Americans visualized their nation's expansion during the Cold War era, a period when territorial growth and national identity were deeply intertwined with geopolitical strategy and pride.