California

Name	The Bear Flag
Use	Civil and state flag and state ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	February 3, 1911
Design	Based on flag flown during the Bear Flag Revolt. Contains a single red star, a red stripe along the bottom, and a bear.

The Bear Flag is the official flag of the state of California. The precursor of the flag was first flown during the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt and was also known as the Bear Flag.

Current flag[link]

Design[link]

The state flag flying at San Francisco City Hall

The first official version of the Bear Flag was adopted by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Hiram Johnson in 1911 as the official state flag.^[1]

The 1911 statute stated:

Metrics for the Flag of California

In 1953, the design and specifications for the state flag were standardized in a bill signed by Governor Earl Warren. The Californian state flag is often called the "Bear Flag" and in fact, the present statute adopting the flag, Gov. Code 420, states: "The Bear Flag is the State Flag of California."

"Monarch" the bear is used as a basis for the Californian flag

The modern state flag is white with a wide red strip along the bottom. There is a red star in the upper left corner and a grizzly bear facing left (toward the hoist) in the center, walking on a patch of green grass. The size of the bear is 2/3 the size of the hoist width and has a ratio of 2 by 1.^[1] The five-point star is actually taken from the California Lone Star Flag of 1836.^[2]

The bear on the current flag of California was modeled on the last wild Californian grizzly bear in captivity. The bear, named "Monarch", was captured in 1889 by newspaper reporter Allen Kelley, at the behest of William Randolph Hearst.^[3] The bear was subsequently moved to Woodwards Gardens in San Francisco, and then to the zoo at Golden Gate Park. After the bear's death in 1911, it was mounted and preserved at the Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park.

The flag is also used as the state ensign.^[4][5]

In 2001, the North American Vexillological Association surveyed its members on the designs of the 72 U.S. state, U.S. territorial, and Canadian provincial flags. After the survey was completed, NAVA members chose the flag of California to be ranked 13th out of the 72.^[6]

Colors[link]

The 1953 legislation defined the exact shades of the Californian flag with a total of five colors (including the white field) relative to the 9th edition of the Standard Color Card of America (now called the Standard Color Reference of America).^[7]

• Seal is used for the dark shading of the bear, the 12 darker tufts in the plot of grass, the border of the plot and the lettering "CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC".
• Old Glory Red is used for the star, the bear's tongue and the red stripe at the bottom of the flag.
• Irish Green is used for the grass plot.
• The bear's claws are also accented with white. The left front and rear paws have four white claws while the right rear claw displays three. The front right paw does not contain highlighting.

History[link]

California Lone Star Flag[link]

1836 California Lone Star Flag

In 1836, Juan Alvarado and Isaac Graham led a revolution against Mexican rule. During this first revolt, rebels were able to capture Monterey and declared California "a free and sovereign state". Although their rebellion failed to secure independence for California, it inspired the design of the flag of the Bear Flag Revolt. The Lone Star Flag of California contained a single red star on a white background.^[10]

The original Bear Flag[link]

Bear Flag monument on the Sonoma Plaza

The original Bear Flag, photographed in 1890

Digital reproduction of the original Bear Flag

The original Grizzly Bear Flag was raised for the first time in Sonoma, California, in June 1846 on a date between the 14th and the 17th,^[11] by the men who became known as the "Bear Flaggers", including William B. Ide.^[12] The exact creation date is at least somewhat unclear. However, U.S. Naval Lieutenant John Missroon reported the flag's existence as of June 17, 1846.^[13] California had been part of Mexico since Mexican independence in 1821 as the department of Alta California, and under the control of Spain for many years before that.

The first Bear Flag was designed by William L. Todd, a nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln - the wife of Abraham Lincoln. According to the book Flags Over California, published by the California Military Department, the star on the flag was influenced by the 1836 California Lone Star Flag. William Todd, in a 1878 letter to the Los Angeles Express, states that the star was drawn using blackberry juice and in recognition of the California Lone Star Flag. The bear was designed to be a symbol of strength and unyielding resistance.^[10]

According to the Sonoma State Historic Park, the construction of the flag was described as such:

The bear on the first bear flag and other early bear flags more closely resembles the more common American black bear than a grizzly, seen in the lack of shoulder hump and narrower muzzle.^{[citation needed]}

The original Bear Flag and the republic it symbolized had a brief career, from about June 14 until July 9.^[15] On July 7, 1846, Commodore John Drake Sloat of the United States Navy's Pacific Squadron first raised the 28-star American flag at Monterey, the capital of Alta California, and claimed the territory for the United States.^[15] This revived the earliest claims on California by his namesake, Sir Francis Drake (in 1579), and made good American colonial claims on the lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific, "from sea to sea" in the 17th century.

Two days later, on July 9, 1846, Navy Lt. Joseph Warren Revere arrived in Sonoma and hauled down the Bear Flag, running up in its place the Stars and Stripes. The Bear Flag was given to young John E. Montgomery (son of Commander John B. Montgomery of the USS Portsmouth), who would later write in a letter to his mother "Cuffy came down growling"—"Cuffy" being his nickname for the bear on the flag.

The Bear Flag given to young Montgomery returned with the USS Portsmouth to the east coast of the U.S. in 1848, but in 1855 was returned to California.^[16] The flag was given to California's two senators John B. Weller and William M. Gwin. This flag was donated to the Society of California Pioneers on September 8, 1855, and was preserved at the Society's Pioneer Halls in San Francisco until it was destroyed on April 18, 1906, in the fires that followed the great San Francisco earthquake.^[16] Today, a replica hangs on display in the Sonoma Barracks, or El Presidio de Sonoma. There is also a statue in the plaza of Sonoma, California, commemorating the raising of the flag, the Bear Flag Monument.

Civil War[link]

During the secession crisis and the early part of the American Civil War in 1861, secessionists in Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County flew the Bear Flag as their banner of revolt.^[17]

Digital reproduction of the Gillis flag

The only Confederate flag captured in California during the Civil War took place on July 4, 1861, in Sacramento. During Independence Day celebrations, secessionist Major J. P. Gillis celebrated the independence of the United States from Britain as well as the southern states from the Union. He unfurled a Confederate flag of his own design and proceeded to march down the street to both the applause and jeers of onlookers. Jack Biderman and Curtis Clark, enraged by Gillis' actions, accosted him and "captured" the flag.^[18] The flag itself is based on the first Confederate flag, the Stars and Bars. However, the canton contains seventeen stars rather than the Confederate's seven. Because the flag was captured by Jack Biderman, it is often also referred to as the "Biderman Flag".

Flag of the Governor[link]

The flag of the Governor of California

The flag of the governor of California consists of the seal of California centered on a field of azure. Like most U.S. governors' flags, there are four five-point stars at the corners of the field.

See also[link]

California portal

• State of California
• Symbols of the State of California
• Great Seal of the State of California

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Smilie, Robert A. (1975). The Sonoma Mission, San Francisco Solano de Sonoma: The Founding, Ruin and Restoration of California's 21st Mission. Valley Publishers, Fresno, CA. ISBN 0-913548-24-3. 
• California. Legislature. Senate (1912). Journal of the Senate of the State of California, Volume 2. State Printing Office. p. 327. http://books.google.com/books?id=sUxNAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA327&dq=%22state%20ensign%22%20california&pg=PA327#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Flag of California

• Flags Over California.
• An 1890 photo shows the original Bear Flag.
• Hubert H. Bancroft's History of California,Vol. V. 1846-1848
• Creation of the Bear Flag.
• Flags of the World: California
• The Bear Flag Museum
• Sonoma State Historic Park Bear Flag Reference
• William Todd Quote on Bear Flag construction
• "Simeon Ide's A Sketch of the Life of William B. Ide". http://www.bearflagmuseum.org/Simeon%20Ide%20Life%20of%20William%20B%20Ide%20Table%20of%20Contents.html. Retrieved 2008-01-30.