Matthew Perry’s historic flag was displayed during Japan’s surrender ceremony in 1945.
The flag had been flown from Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s flagship during his 1853–54 expedition to Japan. Perry’s mission pressured the Tokugawa shogunate to open Japanese ports to American trade, leading to the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.
The flag was brought from the United States Naval Academy Museum for display aboard USS Missouri at the request of Douglas MacArthur. Its presence created a deliberate historical parallel: Perry’s expedition had opened Japan to foreign contact, while the 1945 ceremony formally ended Japan’s wartime empire and began the Allied occupation.
The flag is sometimes incorrectly identified as one that had flown over the White House during the attack on Pearl Harbor. That story is not supported by the ship’s captain. The Perry flag was fragile and was displayed with protective backing, which made its reverse side visible in photographs.