California State Flag

Date adopted: Feb 3, 1911

The Bear Flag, the official flag of California, has a rich historical background dating back to the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt. The current flag, adopted in 1911, features a white background with a wide red stripe at the bottom. In the upper left corner, there is a red star, and in the center, a grizzly bear walking on a green grass plot. The bear's size is 2/3 the width of the hoist, and the grass plot has a specific ratio. The red star is borrowed from the 1836 California Lone Star Flag, and the hoist is two-thirds the length of the fly. The bear on the flag was modeled after "Monarch," the last California grizzly bear in captivity, and the flag's image was standardized in 1953 based on an 1855 watercolor by Charles Christian Nahl. Notably, the California flag is one of only four U.S. state flags that does not include the color blue.