Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
Joe Rosenthal · Public domain · source
Title	Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
Caption	Second flag-raising on Mount Suribachi, February 23, 1945
Date	February 23, 1945
Location	Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Pacific Ocean
Photographer	Joe Rosenthal
Participants	United States Marine Corps members (see Participants and Identification Controversies)
Type	Iconic wartime photograph

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is an iconic wartime photograph taken on February 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima between United States Marine Corps forces and the Imperial Japanese Army. The image, captured by Joe Rosenthal, depicts six servicemen raising a United States flag atop Mount Suribachi and became one of the most reproduced photographs in World War II history. It influenced wartime morale, war bond drives, and representations of servicemen in postwar American culture.

Background and Battle of Iwo Jima

The photograph arose during the Battle of Iwo Jima, a key engagement in the Pacific War phase of World War II following operations such as Guadalcanal Campaign and Battle of Saipan. Iwo Jima, part of the Bonin Islands, hosted Japanese airfields used against United States Navy and United States Army Air Forces bomber operations targeting the Japanese home islands. In February 1945, V Amphibious Corps under Holland Smith and Vance Houston (see note)—with units including the 4th Marine Division, 3rd Marine Division, and supporting United States Navy ships—landed in Operation Detachment to seize the island. The assault aimed to secure emergency landing sites for B-29 Superfortress aircraft and to neutralize Japanese interceptor bases ahead of planned operations toward Okinawa and the Japanese mainland. Intense fighting, extensive fortifications, and underground defenses under leaders such as Tadamichi Kuribayashi produced heavy casualties and protracted combat on the volcanic terrain surrounding Mount Suribachi.

The Two Flag Raisings

Two distinct flag-raising events occurred on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945. The first, early in the day, involved a small group of Marines and a larger, smaller-dimension flag taken from the expeditionary forces, ceremonially raised after securing the summit; participants included members of 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines under Lieutenant Colonel Chandler W. Johnson's command structure. That initial hoist was photographed and reported by unit photographers and battlefield reporters. Later the same day, a second group raised a larger flag to make the symbol more visible to troops and ships offshore; this second act was photographed by Joe Rosenthal and widely reproduced. Both events were intertwined with unit movements by the 5th Marine Division and logistics provided by naval vessels offshore supporting the invasion.

Iconic Photograph and Its Production

Joe Rosenthal, a photographer affiliated with the Associated Press, climbed Mount Suribachi and captured the second raising using a Speed Graphic camera, producing the black-and-white image that circulated in newspapers and magazines. The composition—six servicemen in dynamic poses planting a flagstaff—was the product of constrained space, shifting light, and rapid action on an active battlefield hundreds of miles from the United States mainland. The photograph quickly earned the Pulitzer Prize for Photography and became central to the Sixth Fleet era visual memory of the conflict. Reproduction and dissemination were facilitated by the Associated Press, theatrical newsreels produced by companies connected to RKO Pictures and Movietone, and wartime censorship offices like the Office of War Information that managed images for morale and propaganda purposes.

Participants and Identification Controversies

The six men in Rosenthal’s photograph have been the subject of prolonged identification efforts, involving unit records from 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines and 5th Marine Division, wartime photographers, and family claims. Initially identified figures included Harold "Hank" Hansen, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, John Bradley, Franklin Sousley, and Michael Strank. Later forensic reviews, historian investigations, and analyses by organizations such as the Naval History and Heritage Command and independent researchers revised several attributions; corrected identifications have implicated individuals from Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines and elsewhere. These debates drew on sources including after-action reports, unit rosters, contemporaneous photographs, oral histories maintained by Veterans History Project collections, and photographic-forensic work by journalists and historians.

Public Reception and Cultural Impact

The image rapidly entered American popular culture and international consciousness, becoming synonymous with United States sacrifice in World War II. It inspired the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, sculpted by Felix de Weldon, and influenced wartime fundraising through the Seventh War Loan and subsequent war bond drives. The photograph appeared in newspapers, magazines like Life, and films including Sargent's War-era newsreels and later cinematic representations such as Flags of Our Fathers and related documentary work by Clint Eastwood and authors including James Bradley. The image’s symbolism informed commemorations like Memorial Day ceremonies and the iconography of veterans’ organizations such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Legal, Ethical, and Historical Debates

Legal and ethical questions have arisen around copyright, reproduction rights managed by the Associated Press, and the commercialization of the image in merchandise and memorial uses, provoking litigation and policy discussions in contexts involving the United States Copyright Office. Historiographical debates consider Rosenthal’s photograph in relation to issues of photojournalistic ethics, staging versus candid capture, the role of images in shaping public perception during wartime, and the responsibilities of historians and institutions like the National Archives and Records Administration to correct historical record. Scholarly inquiry continues into the photograph’s provenance, the accuracy of veteran identifications, and its function within narratives of American national identity and memory studies tied to World War II.

Category:World War II photographs Category:United States Marine Corps in World War II