Alan Shepard holding the US flag at Fra Mauro, EVA 1, 31 January-9 February 1971

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based paper, printed 1971, (NASA AS14-66-9232) with"A KODAK PAPER" watermark on verso, (NASA/Kodak), 20,3 x 25,4 cm

A well composed photograph symbolizing the glorious return of Apollo astronauts on the Moon 9 months after the near-disaster of Apollo 13

Alan Shepard is steadying the flagpole. The partial shadow to the right is cast by the erectable S-band antenna; the shadow of the LM extends along the left. (NASA SP-272, p. 15). Mitchell’s shadow is in the foreground. Stripes on Commander Shepard’s helmet and on his arms and legs help distinguish him from Mitchell, who has no stripes.

From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
114:43:55 Shepard: Okay. (To Mitchell) Take a picture this way (facing the 16-mm camera) and then we’ll swing it (the US flag) around so they can see it in the television.
114:44:01 Mitchell: All right.
114:44:02 McCandless (Mission Control): Okay we can see it...
114:44:03 Shepard: Okay, let me turn it around a little (garbled) here. (Long Pause) Okay. (Pause) There we go. (Pause)
114:44:39 Mitchell: I think I’m still too close to you, Al.
114:44:42 Shepard: Look out for the LM leg.
114:44:45 Mitchell: Yeah. (Pause)
114:44:50 Shepard: Okay. And when you’re finished (having his picture taken), you can flop it around so they can see it (the US flag) a little better.

Literature:
A Man on the Moon, Chaikin, ppg. 240-241; Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (NASA SP-350), Cortright, ed., chapter 8, appendix.