State Flag

Alaska adopted the flag for official state use in 1959.
The blue field represents the sky, the sea, and mountain lakes,
as well as Alaska's wildflowers. Emblazoned on the flag are
eight gold stars: seven from the constellation Ursa Major,
or the Big Dipper. The eighth being the North Star,
representing the northern most state. Alaska's flag
was designed in 1926 by a 13-year-old Native American boy,
Bennie Benson, from the village of Chignik. Bennie received
a 1,000-dollar scholarship and a watch for his winning
entry in the flag design contest.

Back in the early days, The Alaska Highway Patrol never really required license plates to be run on their patrol vehicles, but as early as 1946, they began using "All Zeros" sample plates on the front and rear of AHP cars. The 1946 and 1947 plates measured 8 5/8"x 5.5" and were made of compressed soybeans, These soybean plates were made in Illinois as part of the continued efforts to conserve metal during and shortly after World War II. These plates were flat-painted and were not made with durability or longevity in mind. In 1948, Alaska resumed local production of embossed license plates, albeit aluminum as opposed to the Pre-war steel plates.

The AHP continued with sample plates on their patrol vehicles for the next few years. These "5 Zeros" plates measured 12"x 5.5" and had the territorial flag of Alaska embossed on the left side of the plate ahead of the zeroes. The 1950, 1951 and 1952 plates were made of embossed steel, and aluminum was chosen again from 1953 until now. These "5 Zeros" sample plates were used annually on AHP and later Alaska Territorial Police (ATP) patrol cars until 1955. The 1954 and 1955 issues had validation tabs affixed into the slots of the 1953 base plate. The 1954 tab was red over white, and the 1955 tab was white over black. In 1956, the ATP began using blue over white passenger car license plates in the mandatory 6"x 12" format with a number in the 17100 number bloc. A white on red validation tab was used in 1957.

In 1982, new blue over reflective yellow plates were issued to Alaska State Troopers. The state name was silk-screened between the upper bolt-holes above an embossed registration number that commenced with an AST prefix and up to 3 numbers. The letters and numbers were separated by a silk-screened graphic of the state flag. The word TROOPERS was embossed in small dies on the bottom of the plate. Most AST plates had one white over blue sticker with the words STATE over VEHICLE and a similar sticker with the letter P indicating that the plate was a Permanent issue. These stickers were placed in each top corner and varied from left or right.

Around 1991, the same plate was used, but the AST went to the suffix position.

Around 2001, a graphic design front plate began gracing the "business end" of AST patrol cars. The plates had similar colors to the rear plates but were all silk-screened with the exception of TROOPERS embossed in small dies along the bottom of the plate. The center of the plate reads: ".08 It's the Law" indicating Alaska's maximum allowable blood alcohol content for driving a motor vehicle.

Around 2005, an all-embossed version of the yellow and blue flag plate was unveiled. In February of 2006, a new graphic version of the AST plate was introduced. The plate still used dark blue characters over reflective yellow. A full color graphic of the Alaska DPS badge is to the left of the plate with a banner over top of the badge with the motto: "Loyalty-Integrity-Courage". The bottom of the plate has the word TROOPER silk-screened in dark blue.

The Alaska Fish And Wildlife Protection Trooper's primary mission is the protection of Alaska's fish and wildlife resources through enforcement of laws and regulations governing use of natural resources within Alaska and its adjacent waters, as well as through increasing the knowledge of, and respect for, fish and wildlife laws and regulations.

The Alaska Bureau of Wildlife Enforcement also participates in the overall mission of the Department of Public Safety through enforcement of criminal laws and participation in Search and Rescue operations. The State of Alaska has 586,412 square miles or approximately 365,000,000 acres and 47,300 miles of coastline. All this area is covered by approximately 89 Bureau of Wildlife Enforcement State Troopers. This means there is only one trooper for every 6,588 square miles. Some folks argue that these FWP Troopers are even tougher and more stringent than "regular' AST Troopers, but I guess it decides which side of the law you're on when you make that decision!

Alaska Bureau of Wildlife Enforcement Trooper plates have mirrored the regular AST plate issuances with the exception of FWP prefixes and the word PROTECTION embossed in small dies at the bottom of the plate.