Alaska
Kate Connelly described the Alaska state flag: “Navy blue with gold stars in the form of the big dipper constellation, with the North Star off the dipper.” Connelly said that competing on behalf of Alaska is meaningful because, “Alaska is the only state in the USA that is far enough north to be able to participate in the AWG.” According to the University of Alaska, at the request of the territorial governor, the American Legion sponsored a competition in 1926 (Alaska did not become a state until 1959) to create a territorial flag. The winning design was submitted by a 13 year old young man, the child of a Swedish father and Aleut-Russian mother. The symbolism was described by the contestant: “The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower. The North Star is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. The dipper is for the Great Bear – symbolizing strength (sic).”
Alberta
Alberta is the fourth-largest province in Canada and the southernmost contingent at the AWG. Jorgie Visser and Tayden Shott from Alberta North Archery Team described their flag and its symbolism. Visser said, “The bottom is for the wheat fields, there’s a lot of wheat in Alberta. The green is for the valleys, then there’s the mountains, and the blue sky.” Shott added, “the Mountains like Jasper”. Visser noted that the overall crest has something to do with the queen. According to Britannica, the middle of the flag represents the rough prairie land, and the “top of the shield is the red Cross of St. George, recalling the English settlement of the region.” Visser really appreciated that all eight of the AWG contingent flags were flying at the Screaming Eagle Archery venue, even though there only four represented as archery athletes in the competition.
NWT
The second largest of the three territories in Canada, adopted its flag in 1969. Greta Kohle, NWT Archer, described the flag with “the wolf’s head on the red background, and the green and gold next to it. There’s water above that.” A 17-year old from Manitoba designed the flag. According to the Northwest Territories’ Legislative Assembly website about the territories’ symbols, the blue side panels represent lakes and waters, while the white panel represents snow and ice. The coat of arms in the middle has two narwhals guarding a compass rose, symbolic of the magnetic North Pole. The white upper third of the crest represents the polar ice pack and is crossed by a wavy blue line symbolizing the Northwest Passage. The diagonal line separating the red and green segments of the lower part of the shield reflects the treeline. The green symbolizes the forested areas south of the treeline, while the red represents the tundra to the north.” This is Kohle’s very first archery competition and she is pleased to represent her province.
Yukon
Adopted in 1967, the Yukon flag design resulted from a Royal Canadian Legion competition. Dawson Widney and Everett Stuartt, Yukon Archery athletes, described their flag. “The blue is water, and the green is land,” said Widney. “There’s a lot of fireweed in the Yukon Territories, so that’s the flower below the Crest,” said Stuartt. According to the Yukon Territories official page describing territorial symbols, the “coat of arms is red, blue, gold, and white shield surmounted by a malamute standing on a mound of snow.” In the center of the crest are blue and white, wavy stripes representing the Yukon River and the creeks of the Klondike, rich with gold. The red peaks symbolize the mineral-rich mountains. The cross of St. George recognizes the English explorers, and the “roundel in vair” symbolizes the fur trade. The flag was officially approved in 1956. Widney spoke of the honor he feels for being selected to compete for their province and added, “In the Yukon the AWG are really, really big! They are the biggest sporting event. The whole province is following the games – it’s on the nightly news and friends and family text us after live-streaming our events.” Stuartt agreed wholeheartedly with Widney’s feeling of great honor to be here competing. They feel especially proud of how well their entire team is performing in the archery shoots this week.