The Six U.S. Flags on the Moon don’t Look Anything like Old Glory These Days

By Arthur Dominic J. Villasanta , | April 11, 2017

The American flag planted on the lunar surface by the two-man crew of Apollo 12.

The American flag planted on the lunar surface by the two-man crew of Apollo 12.

Five of the six rayon American flags planted on the Moon's surface from 1969 to 1972 by U.S. astronauts of the Apollo Program are still standing, with only the flag of Apollo 11 having fallen to the lunar regolith.

But all six flags, which each cost a mere $5.50, are likely bleached white by constant exposure to destructive ultraviolet light over the past four decades.

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Online conversations about the fate of these historic flags that peaked in 2012 have again reignited with again the same result being voiced by experts. Instead of the proud red, white and blue flags unfurled on the Moon, what can now be seen are paper white rectangles devoid of any colors.

Apollo 11's flag, on the other hand, was placed too close to the Apollo Lunar Module by astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second human to set foot on the Moon. The flag was blown to the surface by the blast of the module's ascent stage when Aldrin and the late Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon, departed the Moon to rendezvous with the Command and Service Module (named Columbia) flown by astronaut Michael Collins.

All six flags were woven out of rayon and were made by the company Annin Flagmakers in New Jersey, a company run by Dennis Lacarruba back then. Annin is the oldest and largest flagmaker in the U.S., having been founded in 1847.

A comment by Lacarruba that his flags had disintegrated triggered an online conversation involving experts and amateurs as to the fate of the flags.

"I can't believe there would be anything left. I gotta be honest with you. It's gonna be ashes," said Lacarruba in 2012.

Photos from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that began orbiting the Moon in 2009, however, don't confirm Lacarruba's theory. High quality photos taken by LRO of the landing sites show the flags are still there as evidenced by their shadows.

All the flags are still attached to their flagpoles, which remain standing, except the one left by Armstrong and Aldrin.

Dr. Paul Spudis, an American lunar scientist and geologist, wrote a piece published in 2011 that offers an explanation for why the colorful American flags have been bleached white as white as snow.

"Over the course of the Apollo program, our astronauts deployed six American flags on the Moon. For forty-odd years, the flags have been exposed to the full fury of the Moon's environment -- alternating 14 days of searing sunlight and 100° C heat with 14 days of numbing-cold -150° C darkness.

"But even more damaging is the intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the pure unfiltered sunlight on the cloth (modal) from which the Apollo flags were made. Even on Earth, the colors of a cloth flag flown in bright sunlight for many years will eventually fade and need to be replaced.

"So it is likely that these symbols of American achievement have been rendered blank, bleached white by the UV radiation of unfiltered sunlight on the lunar surface. Some of them may even have begun to physically disintegrate under the intense flux."

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