Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state in 1959, completing the flag displayed during America250.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Hawaii’s statehood admission on March 18, 1959, after Hawaii voters approved statehood in a June 1959 referendum. Hawaii officially joined the Union on August 21, 1959, more than three decades after becoming a U.S. territory.
Alaska entered the Union earlier that year, on January 3, as the 49th state. Designers added two stars to the U.S. flag for the new states; the 50-star flag became official on July 4, 1960, after a one-year transition.
Hawaii is the only U.S. state composed entirely of islands and the southernmost state. Its admission completed the current fifty-state count that Americans will see throughout the 250th-anniversary observance.