Boston Red Sox California Bear

The Boston Red Sox is presently selling decals/stickers showing our dear ol' California grizzly bear, right off of the Bear Flag, but showing its sox fan status with the wearing of the iconic Red Sox "red socks" on the hind legs of the bear. This is a baseball travesty & almost an insult to our dear old Bear Flag. Don't they realize that the bear is a Giants & Angels fan!

Handsome Bear Statue

This is a photo of a nice bear statue in a position not unlike that of the bear on the California Bear Flag. This photograph was found on the internet in January 2009.

1st Marine Division Bear Flag

This is a photograph from Flickr by snuffies2000b of a Bear Flag of the 1st Marine Division Combat Correspondents in Vietnam from January 1967 to October 1968 & showing the signatures of various persons.

S.F. Fire Dept Carrying the Bear Flag

This is an April 18, 2006 photograph by Sean Chapin showing members of the San Francisco, California Fire Department parading with the Bear Flag, U.S. Flag & the S.F.F.D. Flag.

Flag of an English California?

Here are 2 versions of a flag for English California, utilizing the St. George's cross as well as the California bear & star. These images were taken off a flag blog thread during the past several days. Don't you just love the wandering ways of the human mind? At least I think they were human!

Cali Dunks Bear Flag Shoes

Two 2009 photographs of Air Jordan Cali Dunks shoes, utilizing the Bear Flag design & colors. These are some expensive shoes!

California Native Bear Flag

A recent stylized version of the Bear Flag which includes acknowledgement of the native peoples of California.

We recently read a population statistic which indicated that California presently has the largest number of American Indians of any state, approximately 742,000 persons.

Happy Anniversary Bear Flag Museum!

Today is the 3rd Anniversary of the Bear Flag Museum's online existence. Three years ago we uploaded our first page. It has been an interesting and fun time. We have learned a great deal. This year we have added both this blog & our Facebook group as ways of communicating. We also attended the annual Bear Flag Celebrations in Sonoma. We only hope that what we have accomplished to date has been interesting & helpful to you. Thank you.

Edward Boswell's KOLLYFORNIA

A Nice Photo of the Duplicate Bear Flag at Sonoma Barracks

A nice May 2008 photograph of the duplicate version of the Bear Flag which was made in 1896. Note the inscription in the lower left corner of the field of the flag

An 1852 Bear Flag

Fred Rogers on the Route of the Bear Flaggers to Sonoma, June 11 -14, 1846

From Fred B. Rogers Bear Flag Lieutenant (CHSQ 1951):

"The captured horses were taken to Fremont’s camp on the Bear River where Merritt’s party arrived on the morning of June 11, having traveled about 120 miles in two days. Merritt, with additional men bringing his party to twenty, left that afternoon to carry out the plan to take Sonoma.

"Since trouble with Sutter at New Helvetia was not feared, it was logical that Sonoma was made the next objective. The town had not been garrisoned for some time, but a few cannon, several hundred muskets, and some ammunition were located there. At Sonoma were Colonel Vallejo, a person of much influence north of the bay, and his brother Capt. Salvador Vallejo. Control of Sonoma would serve to protect the nearby foreigners and would afford a convenient base for further operations in the general area.

"To keep the march as secret as possible, it was necessary to avoid the usually traveled route to Sonoma; furthermore it was important to get information of the plan of action to the American settlers in Napa Valley. Crossing the Sacramento at Hardy’s, the party made a stop for supper at Gordon’s on Cache Creek. Merritt, who had hunted the country often, then led his men farther up Cache Creek, crossed Blue Ridge with a hard climb and even steeper descent into Berryessa Valley, and thence, via Elias Barnett’s place in Pope Valley, passed to the head of the Napa Valley near present day Calistoga. Scattered south from that vicinity toward Yount’s were habitations of several American settlers, Benjamin and Samuel Kelsey, John York, and John Grigsby, among others.

"While the party rested in the upper Napa Valley, messengers were sent out to warn the settlers. Those who had joined en route and those recruited at this time brought the strength of the party to about thirty-three. A final meeting, addressed by Semple, was held at Bale’s Mill. On the night of June 13-14, the group passed down the valley, crossed the intervening ridge, possibly by a route lying somewhat north of the present Napa-Sonoma road, and approached the sleeping pueblo of Sonoma at dawn."

Some California City Flags with the Bear Flag

Above are images of the city flags of the California cities Beverly Hills, Albany, Glendale & Sonoma. These images are taken from the Flags of the World website, www.fotw.org. The images were created by Valentin Poposki, Michael Smuda, & Antonio Martins-Tuvalkin (Glendale & Sonoma), respectively. Each of these flags use the California Bear Flag or some portion of it in the design of the city flag. To locate these city flags, we surveyed the list of California cities at the Flags of the World site and surveyed those listed as having a flag. It is very likely that this is not a complete list of the California cities. There are presently approximately 480 incorporated cities and towns in California. It is not unlikely that one or more other municipalities in California use the Bear Flag as an element of its city flag.

California County Seals with a Bear Flag

We recently surveyed the County Seals of California's 58 Counties to see which contained the California Bear Flag. The results of the survey are shown above. Only two California County Seals contain a Bear Flag image - San Bernardino County in Southern California & Sonoma County, the home of the Bear Flag, in Northern California.

Bear Flag, Sonoma July 4th, 2008 Parade

This is a photograph from Flickr showing the Bear Flag in the Sonoma, CA July 4th, 2008 parade.

New Acquisition, Older Bear Flag

This is a photograph of a 7.25" x 12" older version of the California Bear Flag which was just acquired. There is a lot of detail in the grass plat.

A Couple More Images of Monarch, the Grizzly

These are two more photographs of Monarch, the California grizzly bear at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Monarch was viewed by Donald Greame Kelley when he was drawing an image to serve as a basis for the California Bear Flag design in the early 1950s.

These photographs were found on Flickr in January 2010.

Kill by Rudy Martinez, 1992

Kill

Courtesy of California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives, Dept of Special Collections, Donald Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, cema@library.ucsb.edu, (805) 893-8563,

URL: http://cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/cema_index.html

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb7x0nb5h1/?brand=calisphere


Title:Kill
Creator/Contributor:Martínez, Rudy, Artist
Date:1992-07-28

Seal of the City of Los Angeles, California

Above are several versions of the seal of the City of Los Angeles, California. The seal includes the California Bear Flag as one of its design elements. According to the City Clerk's Office: "On March 27, 1905, Ordinance 10,834 authorized the city seal."

The Bear Flag on the seal does not have the words "CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC," nor is there a grass plat as on the State Flag. The Bear Flag, here, is to represent the Bear Flag Republic, not the State, per se. Also the bear appears to be centered on the white field, unlike the most recognized Bear Flag, drawn by William Todd.

The City Seal (with Bear Flag) is centered on the Los Angeles City Flag, which was designed 1931 and raised in 1937, according to the City Clerk's Office.

Neal Harlow's Bear Flagger Route Map

This is a map published in Neal Harlow's CALIFORNIA CONQUERED (1982) intending to show the routes of the Bear Flaggers in June 1846. We have added the highlighting of the route to Sonoma for ease of reference.

Peter G. Meyerhof indicates that he believes that the map is/may be inaccurate in at least two respects. First, the Bear Flaggers left for Sonoma from Fremont's camp which had been moved from the Butte's closer to New Helvetia, aka Sutter's Fort. Second, he has concluded that the map may be wrong by showing entrance into Sonoma from the north rather than the east, citing a comment of Harvey Porterfield that the men crossed Carnernos Creek, near Porterfield's ranch which was west of Carneros Creek, just north of the old bridge on what is now called the Old Sonoma Highway( just north of the Madonna Estate).

We have not studied the details of the Bear Flaggers' route to Sonoma in enough detail to be able to agree or disagree with either Harlow's map or Meyerhof's conclusions. It is important to be aware that there are differing opinions on some of the details of the route traveled and so not blindly accept one version or another.

2008 California Capitol Bear Flag Photograph

This is a photograph taken at the California State Capitol on June 14, 2008, showing the Bear Flag flying over the Capitol building in Sacramento, CA.

Another Schwarzenneger Bear Flag Picture

A January 2010 photograph of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger in front of the Governor's Seal

California Surfing Bear Flag

New links to Blog plus at Bear Flag Museum

This weekend we added links both to this blog and to our Facebook group, FRIENDS OF THE CALIFORNIA BEAR FLAG, on the homepage of the Bear Flag Museum.

We also added a new homepage slide show for you to watch repeatedly as it "loops" you into submission.

Our Museum is open seven(7) days a week, 24 hours a day, just for you Bear Flag Freaks & Scholars.

Come by and visit us often at www.BearFlagMuseum.org.

Bear Flag Over Truckee, CA

This is a photograph of the California Bear Flag flying over Truckee, CA in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in July 2009.

First Bear Flag Monument, Sonoma

Typically, when one reads about the Bear Flag Monument, one only hears about a single monument. Usually it is the second, larger monument which is referenced(second photo from top). But there is also an earlier Bear Flag Monument, erected in 1907 by the S.V.W.C.[Sonoma Valley Woman's Club]. This is the monument pictured in all of the photographs, above. The first (top) photo was taken in the early 1900s after erection of the monument. You can see in the background that the Sonoma Plaza, was a fairly open place even at that date. Today, as you can see in the three other photographs (taken in early January 2010), the Plaza is no longer just an open space lined by trees. It is very much a well established and beautiful City park. The S.V. Woman's Club had much to do with the Plaza's development.

Look at the ground in the second photo from the top. See the covered areas on the ground to the left of the rock monument. The furthest left is believed to have in its middle the remnants of an early flag pole, possibly the pole on which the original Bear Flag was first raised in June 1846.

"SAVE TRESTLES" 2008 Protest Bear Flag

This is a protest/advertising logo using the Bear Flag as part of protests against development of a toll road in an area near the California Coastline in Southern California, south of Los Angeles, at San Onofre State Beach. Tshirts with this logo can be purchase from the Surfrider Foundation. Thanks to Kevin Harrington of the Canadian Flag Association for this image.

Mormon Battalion Bear Flag

This flag is owned by the emeritus patriarch of the LDS Church, having been passed down to him. The flag is reputed to have been with the Mormon Battalion when it was in California in 1846-47. It is also reputed that he Bear was added to the flag while it was in California with that Battalion. If that is proven true, this flag may be the oldest, still existing California Bear Flag dating from the 1846-47 time frame.

Monarch the Bear

The is a photograph of Monarch the Grizzly Bear as it has been on display at the California Academy of Sciences. Monarch was one of the last surviving California grizzlies. He was kept in captivity for a number of years in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and then stuffed after his death. In the early 1950s, Donald Greame Kelley, who was associated with the California Academy of Sciences, used the stuffed Monarch as one of his sources for the painting of the California grizzly bear which has been used on the California State Flag since 1953.

Bellerophon Books & the Bear Flag

Repair California Meeting Image 2009

This is a photograph taken at an 08/11/2009 Repair California meeting held at the PG&E Auditorium on Beale St., in San Francisco, CA. Repair California is a group advocating a Constitutional Convention for California in an effort to correct the budgetary process of the State which has caused difficulties over the past years. This photograph was found at the SF Citizen blog website http://sfcitizen.com/blog for 08/12/2009.

Bear Flag Republic Poetry

This is the cover of a Spring 2008 published book of poetry, entitled Bear Flag Republic, Prose Poems and Poetics from California. The cover shows an image of the William Todd Bear Flag, which may have been the original California Bear Flag.

Bear Flag Revolt Band logo

This is the image found at the website www.bearflagrevolt.com as a logo for the musical group Bear Flag Revolt. Accessed 01/07/2010.

Platon Vallejo & the Bear Flag

Here is a link to a recent story on Platon Vallejo, Mariano Vallejo's youngest son, who had a small role in the creation of the Bear Flag : www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_14069144.

Woman & the Bear Flag

A recent photograph of a woman and the California Bear Flag found on Flickr.

1861 Bear Flag at Sonoma

"About a dozen of the old pioneers, who raised the Bear Flag at Sonoma in 1846, assembled at that place on the 5th of July, to celebrate the anniversary of that event. They met in front of the old barracks on the plaza, which barracks were used by the Mexican troops in 1846 and afterwards by the American troops from 18...50 to 1852. They were round the flagstaff which, it is said, is the same pole which stood there fifteen years ago. Wm. Baldridge and Mr. Van Pfeister addressed the company, and toasts were drunk in California wine. It had been the intention to hoist the old Bear Flag, but a report having been started that they intended to hoist a Secession flag, this part of the programme was not carried into execution."

THE SONOMA COUNTY DEMOCRAT, SANTA ROSA, CALIF., 11 July, 1861"

1861 Bear Flag at Sonoma

"About a dozen of the old pioneers, who raised the Bear Flag at Sonoma in 1846, assembled at that place on the 5th of July, to celebrate the anniversary of that event. They met in front of the old barracks on the plaza, which barracks were used by the Mexican troops in 1846 and afterwards by the American troops from 18...50 to 1852. They were round the flagstaff which, it is said, is the same pole which stood there fifteen years ago. Wm. Baldridge and Mr. Van Pfeister addressed the company, and toasts were drunk in California wine. It had been the intention to hoist the old Bear Flag, but a report having been started that they intended to hoist a Secession flag, this part of the programme was not carried into execution."

THE SONOMA COUNTY DEMOCRAT, SANTA ROSA, CALIF., 11 July, 1861"

Galvin Bear Flag Paintings

The images above are paintings by San Francisco writer/ artist Annie Galvin, originally from Wexford, Ireland. She is associated with 3 Fish Studios in San Francisco, CA.