You’ve seen it a thousand times. It’s on postage stamps, bronze monuments, and in every history textbook you’ve ever cracked open. Six men, straining against the wind, hoisting the Stars and Stripes atop a jagged volcanic peak. It is, quite literally, the most famous photograph of the 20th century.
But honestly? Almost everything the general public "knows" about that picture of Iwo Jima flag is slightly off—or just flat-out wrong.
For starters, that wasn't the first flag raised that day. It wasn't even the "important" one to the guys actually fighting on the ground. And for decades, we didn't even know the real names of the men in the frame. If you think it was a staged photo op cooked up by the government, you're wrong about that too, but the truth is way more chaotic than the legend.
The Flag Raising Nobody Saw
February 23, 1945. It’s day five of the Battle of Iwo Jima. The island is a hellscape of black volcanic ash and sulfur. Roughly 40 Marines from Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, finally claw their way to the top of Mount Suribachi.
They did it. They raised a flag.
This first flag was small—just 54 by 28 inches. It was a piece of cloth a lieutenant had carried in his pocket. When it went up, the ships offshore went wild. Horns blared. Men on the beaches cheered. It was a massive morale boost because, for the first time, they could see they were winning.
Joe Rosenthal, the AP photographer who would eventually take the "real" photo, wasn't even there yet. He was still hiking up the mountain.
So why did they raise a second one? Basically, because a politician wanted a souvenir. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal saw the first flag from a landing craft and decided he wanted it. Colonel Chandler Johnson, the battalion commander, wasn't having it. He allegedly said, "Some son of a bitch is going to want that flag, but he’s not going to get it. That’s our flag."
He ordered his men to find a much bigger flag—one that could be seen across the whole island—and swap them. He wanted the first flag safely tucked away for his own men.
The Split-Second "Snapshot"
Rosenthal reached the summit just as the Marines were lugging a heavy 96-by-56-inch flag up there. This second flag had been "liberated" from a salvage ship, LST-779.
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Rosenthal almost missed it. He was busy piling up stones and sandbags to get a better vantage point because he was only 5'5". Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the motion start. He didn't even look through the viewfinder. He just swung his camera around and clicked.
"I took the picture," he later said, "and I didn't know I had it."
That’s the crazy part. In an era before digital screens, he had no idea if the shot was blurry, if someone’s head was in the way, or if he’d even caught the flag at all. He mailed the film to Guam to be processed.
The photo is perfect. The diagonal line of the pole, the tension in the bodies, the way the wind catches the fabric—it looks like a Renaissance painting. It was so perfect that people immediately started whispering that it was "staged."
Was it Staged?
This is the big controversy that followed Rosenthal until he died in 2006. The answer is a hard no.
The confusion started because, after the flag was up, Rosenthal asked the Marines to gather around it for a "Gung Ho" shot—a group photo where they were all smiling and waving. When he got back to Guam, someone asked him if he'd posed the photo. He thought they meant the "Gung Ho" shot and said "sure."
By the time he realized they were talking about the action shot, the "staged" rumor had already grown legs and was running. But there’s actually video footage. A Marine sergeant named Bill Genaust was standing right next to Rosenthal with a motion picture camera. His film shows the entire thing happening in real-time. No posing. Just six guys trying to stick a heavy pipe into a pile of rocks.
The Secret Identities (and the 70-Year Mistake)
For seventy years, the official record listed the six men as:
- Harlon Block
- Rene Gagnon
- John Bradley
- Ira Hayes
- Franklin Sousley
- Michael Strank
But here’s the thing: the Marine Corps got it wrong. Twice.
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The first mistake happened almost immediately. They thought a man named Henry Hansen was in the photo. It took until 1947 to realize it was actually Harlon Block.
The bigger shocker came much later. In 2016 and 2019, new forensic investigations by amateur historians—later confirmed by the Marine Corps—proved that two of the most famous "survivors" weren't in the photo at all.
John Bradley (the Navy corpsman and subject of the book Flags of Our Fathers) and Rene Gagnon were actually involved in the first flag raising or the logistics of the day, but they aren't in the iconic Rosenthal shot.
The man long thought to be Bradley was actually Harold "Pie" Schultz. Schultz survived the war, went home to Detroit, and worked for the post office for 30 years. He almost never mentioned the photo to anyone. His stepdaughter only found out because he once offhandedly mentioned it while they were looking at a book. He took the secret to his grave in 1995.
The man thought to be Gagnon was actually Harold Keller.
The Brutal Reality After the Flash
We tend to look at this picture of iwo jima flag as a victory shot. Like the war ended right then.
It didn't.
The battle for Iwo Jima lasted another 31 days after that photo was taken. It was a bloodbath. Of the six men in that specific photograph, three were killed in action before they ever left the island: Michael Strank, Harlon Block, and Franklin Sousley.
Even Bill Genaust, the guy who filmed the whole thing? He was killed in a cave a few days later. His body was never recovered.
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When the photo hit the U.S., it became a sensation. President Roosevelt realized it was the perfect tool to sell war bonds. The three "survivors"—Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, and John Bradley—were whisked off the front lines and sent on a grueling PR tour across America.
It was a weird, jarring experience for them. They were being treated like celebrities while their friends were still dying in the Pacific. Ira Hayes, a Pima Native American, took it especially hard. He hated the "hero" label. He struggled with alcoholism and PTSD for years after, famously saying he was "just a Pima Indian" who got lucky.
Where is the Flag Now?
If you want to see the flags, you have to go to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia.
They have both.
The second flag—the one from the famous photo—is surprisingly beat up. It’s frayed and torn at the edges because the winds on top of Mount Suribachi were brutal. It stayed up there for three weeks before it was finally replaced and sent back to the States.
Why It Still Matters
The image has outlived the men. It has outlived the era. It works because you can't see their faces. They are everyman. They represent the collective grunt work of a generation.
It’s easy to get bogged down in the "who's who" or the "staged" rumors, but the power of the image isn't in the identities. It’s in the struggle.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you're researching the picture of iwo jima flag or planning a visit to the memorial, keep these points in mind:
- Visit the Memorial at Night: The Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington is based exactly on this photo. It is much more powerful at night when it's lit up and the crowds are thin.
- Read the 2016 Corrections: If you have an old copy of Flags of Our Fathers, remember that the names have changed. Check the official Marine Corps 2016 and 2019 statements for the most accurate roster of the men.
- Look for the "Gung Ho" Shot: Search for Joe Rosenthal’s other photo from that day. Seeing the Marines smiling and waving helps humanize the men who look like statues in the famous version.
- Check the Museum Schedule: The National Museum of the Marine Corps sometimes rotates the flags for preservation. If you're going specifically to see the original "Rosenthal flag," call ahead to ensure it's on display in the "Uncommon Valor" gallery.
The photo wasn't a lie, but it also wasn't the whole truth. It was a lucky shot taken by a guy who almost didn't climb the hill, of a flag that wasn't supposed to be there, featuring men whose names we didn't get right for nearly a century. And somehow, that makes it even more American.