80 years ago: The flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima is a small Japanese volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean, best known for the battle during World War II and the iconic image of the flag-raising ceremony on Mount Suribachi, a 161-meter-high mountain on the island. During the beautiful American Photography exhibition at the Rijksmuseum from February 7 to June 9, 2025, the famous stamp and the complete sheet of 50 stamps were on display.
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima is a Japanese island. Administratively, like the volcanic Bonin Islands, the island falls under the subprefecture of Ogasawara. Geologically, it does not form part of the Bonin Islands, but a coherent chain of three uninhabited islands, the Volcano Islands, of which Iwo Jima is the largest. The island group lies 1200 km south of Tokyo, 1100 km north of Guam, and halfway between Tokyo and Saipan. Iwo To means sulfur island. This substance is found in large quantities on the island. The island measures only eight kilometers in length, and its surface area is 23 square kilometers. In the south, the dormant volcano Suribachi is the highest point on the island; the center of the island is relatively flat, while the north features a higher point.
Landing op Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima witnessed some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific during World War II. During the five-week battle between February and March 1945, American troops fought to capture the strategic island of Iwo Jima and secure it against the Japanese. The United States Marine Corps suffered more than 27.000 casualties, including nearly 7.000 killed. By the end of the battle, the vast majority of the Japanese garrison had been wiped out, with more than 21.000 dead.
To honor the United States Marine Corps on a postage stamp, the U.S. Post Office chose one of the most iconic images of World War II. The stamp depicts the raising of the American flag over Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. The design of the 3-cent stamp, issued on July 11, 1945, is a reproduction of the historic photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal of Associated Press on February 23, 1945. The fighting on Iwo Jima would continue for another four weeks after Rosenthal took his famous photograph.
A historical comparison with the September 11 (9/11) stamp
The fact that an American flag occupied a prominent place in one of the most iconic images of World War II is not surprising. This would not be the last time an image of an American flag would stir up the nation. On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked when Islamic terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger planes and subsequently crashed two into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The passengers and crew of the fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, attempted to recapture the aircraft from the hijackers, which tragically resulted in a crash in a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
(The 45-cent stamp, depicting three firefighters at Ground Zero raising an American flag, was valid for the 34-cent first-class fare. The extra 11 cents went to a fund to provide financial assistance to families of first responders who were killed or permanently disabled as a result of the September 11 attacks.) In the days following the September 11 attacks, Americans united under one symbol: the American flag. One of the most famous images of the site where the World Trade Center towers (Ground Zero) collapsed is that of three firefighters raising the flag during their search for survivors. The image is reminiscent of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima and reminds Americans of the flag's infallible strength, even in difficult times.
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