Matthew Perry’s flag was displayed at Japan’s 1945 surrender ceremony.
The flag had been associated with Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s U.S. expedition to Japan in 1853–1854. Perry’s expedition helped lead to the Convention of Kanagawa, which opened Japanese ports to American trade and ended Japan’s policy of national seclusion toward the United States.
The historic flag was brought from the United States Naval Academy for display aboard USS Missouri. Its presence created a deliberate historical link between Perry’s arrival in Tokyo Bay nearly a century earlier and the Allied ceremony that ended World War II in the Pacific.
A common mistake is to identify the flag as the one that flew over the White House during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Accounts from Missouri’s crew and later historical research distinguish the Perry-associated flag from that popular story. The flag was displayed with its reverse side visible because of its position and protective backing.