California State Flags

The Bear Flag is California's official state flag, defined by state law down to the exact shade of red. FORTISVEX makes it here in the United States, in eight outdoor sizes from 2x3 Feet up to 12x18 Feet, in both commercial-grade nylon and heavier two-ply polyester for windier or coastal sites. Smaller sizes finish with brass grommets; 8x12 Feet and larger finish with a sewn rope and plated steel thimbles built for a flagpole's truck and halyard. Every order over twenty five dollars ships free.

The California State Flag

California's flag traces to the Bear Flag Revolt of June 1846, when a group of American settlers in Sonoma declared a short-lived California Republic and raised a hand-painted flag over the town plaza. That republic lasted twenty five days before word arrived that the United States and Mexico were already at war, and California was annexed. The original 1846 flag survived until 1906, when it was destroyed in the fire that followed the San Francisco earthquake. The design is credited to William Todd, a nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln, who painted it at Sonoma.

The legislature adopted the Bear Flag as the official state flag in 1911, and its exact design was standardized in 1953 under California Government Code Section 420, one of the most detailed flag statutes in the country. The statute places a five-pointed red star in the upper left corner of a white field, a grizzly bear walking left on all four paws across a grass plot in the center, the words CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC between the grass plot and a red stripe that runs the length of the flag along the bottom.

The bear is a California grizzly, a subspecies that no longer exists anywhere. The animal used as the model when the flag was standardized in 1953 was Monarch, the last grizzly held in captivity in California, who died in 1911. The star recalls an earlier, short-lived California flag flown during an 1836 revolt.

Three mistakes are common enough on other flag listings that they are worth naming directly. The bear does not stand upright; it walks on all four paws. The words CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC sit below the bear, not above it. And Eureka, the state motto, belongs to the state seal, not to the flag — a California flag printed with the word Eureka on it does not match the statute.

We build every size to that statute, in the proportions California Government Code Section 420 specifies. Read the statute in full and check what we sell against it.

California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850. Read more about California's admission and the case for flying the flag that day on our blog.