Matthew Perry’s flag was displayed aboard USS Missouri during Japan’s surrender.
The flag had been flown by Commodore Matthew C. Perry during his 1853 expedition to Japan. Perry’s mission helped lead to the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, which opened Japanese ports to American trade and ended Japan’s long policy of seclusion toward the United States.
The flag therefore connected the surrender ceremony with an earlier turning point in United States–Japan relations. It was brought aboard Missouri after the ship reached the waters near Japan and was placed on display for the ceremony.
Matthew Perry is sometimes confused with Oliver Hazard Perry, another famous American naval officer. Oliver Hazard Perry was associated with the War of 1812, while Matthew Perry led the nineteenth-century expedition to Japan. The surrender ceremony specifically used Matthew Perry’s flag.