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In 1958, when Heft was 17, it became clear that the United States would bring Alaska, and then Hawaii, into the Union. The U.S. Flag, which had 48 stars to represent the 48 states, needed to be redesigned with 50 stars. Heft rebuilt a family flag as a class project in school in Lancaster, Ohio, and got a “B-” for the project.
When he submitted his design to President Dwight D. Eisenhower — one of more than 1,500 people to do so — his teacher agreed to revisit the grade if Heft’s design was chosen. Later that year someone called him on the phone: it was President Eisenhower, calling to say Heft’s design had been chosen. (And Heft’s teacher revised his grade to “A”.) Heft’s 50-star design became official on the 4th of July after Hawaii was admitted to the Union (on August 21, 1959), and is still the official flag today.
Heft, who was a high school teacher and later a college professor, served as mayor of Napoleon, Ohio, for 28 years. After retiring from teaching, he became a motivational speaker, telling the story of his contribution to history — at an estimated 200 engagements per year. He died December 12 at 67.
Investigation by writer Alec Nevala-Lee concludes in an extensive 2022 article in Slate that Heft’s 50-star flag creation story “is false,” a spun-up narrative that grew and grew over the years in unbelievable ways (on Carson’s Tonight Show three times? There’s no record of that, nor of appearing with Bob Hope, and certainly not sitting next to President Eisenhower at the flag’s 4 July 1960 unveiling …which Eisenhower did not even attend).
Perhaps more importantly, government records show that on August 21, 1959, President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10834 establishing the design of the 50-star flag to recognize Hawaii becoming a state to replace the 49-star flag that was established on January 3, 1959, by Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10798 to recognize Alaska becoming a state. At the time, credit for the 50-star flag was given by the Eisenhower White House to the United States Army Institute of Heraldry for the design. Thus, Heft’s H.U., based on his obit published in the Saginaw News (Heft was born and died in Saginaw, Mich.), is the first to be withdrawn, though it remains published here for historical context.