History
Joe Rosenthal’s Iwo Jima flag-raising photograph
The 1945 AP image became a symbol with a complicated relationship to the battle it documented.
Joe Rosenthal’s flag-raising photograph at Iwo Jima shows a moment that was real but became a national emblem with a life beyond its original context. The Library of Congress record links the image’s wartime circulation to the memorial that later drew from its composition.
A second flag raising
The Library of Congress identifies Rosenthal’s photograph as the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, during the invasion of Iwo Jima. At the time, the battle was continuing; the image’s hopeful reception at home could not mean the island had already been secured.
Rosenthal worked for the Associated Press and landed on the island after the invasion began. The photograph of six servicemen struggling to raise a flag became widely recognizable because its physical effort translated readily into a public symbol.
Evidence: Historic-site archive record
From news picture to memorial
The Library’s historic-site documentation explains that sculptor Felix de Weldon used the AP image as the basis for a three-dimensional model that informed the Marine Corps War Memorial. A single news frame therefore helped shape a later public monument.
That transformation does not erase the photograph’s source as a particular moment in a battle. It shows how reproduction, sculpture and civic commemoration can give one image a second career beyond the newspaper page.
Evidence: Historic-site archive record
A careful historical reading
The photograph documents a flag-raising, but its iconic status encouraged people to read it as a summary of victory. The Library’s account notes that this interpretation was premature because fighting continued for weeks.
A booth gives its sitters a personal print; Rosenthal’s image grew into a public symbol whose meaning outlasted the event.
Evidence: Historic-site archive record
Sources & further reading
Sources for the specific facts and product descriptions above. Our worked examples, interpretations and practical suggestions are original editorial guidance.
- Library of Congress — United States Marine Corps War Memorial, Iwo Jima documentationHistoric-site archive record