Issued just for this occasion. It took 11 months to add that last star to the flag as noted on this token.
The obverse has the date of admission to the union, August 21, 1959. The reverse has the date July 4, 1960. Before July 4th date it has the words 50 STAR FLAG OFFICIAL.
Now I get it. Like you, I wonder why there seemed to be an eleven month delay to producing a flag with 50 stars.
I was curious so I looked it up - when Alaska was admitted, the 49 star flag was also official on July 4, but in 1959. Alaska officially became a state January 3, 1959, so that time it was six months before the new flag. https://www.americanflagstories.net/flags/49-star-flag-1959
What a dope I am. I didn't remember that Hawaii was the 49th state and that Alaska was the 50th. Must be the pain meds.
49-star US flags are quite rare, but officially the flag had 49 stars from July 4, 1959 through July 3, 1960, before a star for Hawaii was added and the 50-star flag became official. There was already a design for 50-star flags shortly after Hawaii was admitted but it wasn't technically the official flag until 1960, but a lot of people were already using it unofficially.
You’re not a dope, you just got them mixed up. Easy to do as the were both admitted to the union within a year.
I still blame the pain meds. On Wednesday, I had a cortisone shot in my right knee and gel shots in both knees. I had a bad reaction and on Thursday morning I couldn't walk as my right knee refused to function. It was incredibly painful but I had some meds that I use for my back and I iced it down for most of the day in hourly intervals. At least now it is getting better and I can climb stairs one tread at a time. I'm probably looking at replacing both knees, though not at the same time, in the early fall. Oh happy, happy, joy, joy.
There are advantages to being tall, but the extra leverage applied to joints is not one of them. Wishing you relief in the near term, and successful repair in the longer term...
