Blake Hall
There is no American war photo more iconic and renowned than the raising of the American flag after the Battle of Iwo Jima. Today, Feb. 23, marks the 71st anniversary of when U.S. Marines raised the flag on Mount Suribachi.
Of course, the photograph itself actually represents the second raising of the flag. The first flag was raised after U.S. Marines successfully conquered Mount Suribachi, signaling the end of a bloody, thankless battle.
After the Battle of Iwo Jima was won, officers found a larger American flag that originated from a supply depot in Pearl Harbor. Marines were sent back up the mountain to take down the first flag and raise this more meaningful flag in its place. At the same time, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal was climbing the mountain himself. Rosenthal made it to the summit just as five Marines began to raise the flag, and he quickly took the photo so he wouldn’t miss the moment.
Years later, Rosenthal revealed that he took the photo without using his camera’s view finder. That it turned out so well was pure luck.
“Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up,” Rosenthal said. “I swung my camera and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don’t come away saying you got a great shot. You don’t know.”
Fluke or no, Rosenthal’s photograph is cemented in American history. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in 1945, and it was used to design the Marine Corps War Memorial.
The photo has also been parodied countless times. Here are a few of our favorites:
Halo
Star Wars
Lego
