Matthew Perry's 1853 expedition supplied the historic American flag displayed aboard USS Missouri during Japan's surrender.
Commodore Matthew Perry led a United States naval expedition that reached Japan in 1853. His squadron's arrival helped force negotiations that produced the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, opening Japanese ports to American ships and beginning a major change in Japan's relationship with Western powers. Perry's expedition therefore became a powerful historical reference at the 1945 ceremony.
The flag displayed on Missouri was identified as one carried during Perry's expedition. It was brought from the United States Naval Academy and displayed in a glass case near the surrender documents. The flag was shown with its reverse side facing outward, so the stars appeared on the right rather than the usual left. The ceremony's location also echoed Perry's visit: Missouri anchored near the area where his ships had anchored almost 92 years earlier.