What historic flag was displayed beside the Japanese surrender ceremony on USS Missouri?

A flag carried by Commodore Matthew Perry during his 1853 expedition to Japan was displayed at the surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri.

Perry’s expedition had entered Tokyo Bay nearly a century earlier and helped force the opening of Japan’s ports to American trade. Displaying the flag during the 1945 ceremony created a deliberate historical link between the earlier American expedition and Japan’s defeat in World War II.

The flag was not the famous flag flown over the White House during the attack on Pearl Harbor, despite a popular story that has circulated for decades. Accounts from the Missouri’s crew identified the displayed flag as Perry’s 31-star flag, preserved by the United States Naval Academy.

Because the fragile original was shown with protective backing, photographs can make it appear to be displayed backward. The visible side was the reverse of the flag as normally viewed from its hoist.