Which American expedition leader’s flag was displayed at Japan’s surrender ceremony?

Matthew Perry’s flag was displayed at Japan’s surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri.

The flag had been carried during Commodore Matthew Perry’s 1853 expedition to Japan, which helped force the opening of Japanese ports to American trade and diplomacy. During the 1945 surrender preparations, the historic flag was brought aboard Missouri and displayed during the signing in Tokyo Bay.

The choice was symbolic. Perry’s expedition had marked a major change in Japan’s relationship with Western powers, while the surrender ceremony marked the end of Japan’s wartime empire and the beginning of Allied occupation. Missouri was also anchored near the location where Perry’s ships had anchored about 92 years earlier.

The flag is sometimes confused with the flag flown over the United States Capitol during the Pearl Harbor attack, but that was not the flag displayed at the ceremony. Another American flag aboard Missouri came from the ship’s own stock. The Perry flag is now associated with the surrender deck and is represented by a replica at the Battleship Missouri Memorial.