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Flag of California -The Colors, Symbol and History

The Official State of California flag is the Bear Flag. The one before was this flag was first flown in 1846 during the Bear Flag Revolt and was also known as the Bear Flag. It was in 1911 that the first version of the Bear Flag was adopted by the California State Legislature and was signed into law by Governor Hiram Johnson as the official CA state flag. 

In 1953, Governor Earl Warren signed a bill that saw the design and specifications of the TX state flag standardized. The California State Flag is often referred to as the "Bear Flag". This is supported by the current statute of the California Government Code Section 420 that states, "The Bear Flag are the State Flag of California." The regulations and protocols for the right display of the California flag are controlled by the California Adjutant General. This is according to the California Government Code Section 439. When the flag is displayed vertically, it is rotated 90 degrees clockwise in a manner that the bear and the star face up, and the red stripe is to the left.

The design

The modern California flag is white with a broad red stripe on the bottom. It has a red star in the upper left corner and a grumpy bear facing left in the center, walking on a patch of green grass. The bear size is two-thirds of the hoist width and has a ratio of 2 to 1. The grass patch has a ratio of 11 to 1.  The five-point star is an imitation of the California Lone Star Flag of 1836. 

It is claimed that the model of the bear on this flag is modeled from the last California grizzly bear in captivity.  In 1889, a newspaper reporter, Allen Kelley, captured the bear named "Monarch". When the bear died in 1911, it was placed and preserved in the Academy of Sciences located at the Golden Gate Park. 

The Colors

The 1953 legislation defined the color shades of the California flag to have five colors in total.  The colors are:

o    Old Glory Red-this color is used for the star, the bear's tongue and the bottom red stripe.


o    Seal is used in the dark shading of the bear, the 12 more tan tufts in the grass plot, the plot's border and the label, "CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC".


o    Irish green is used for the grass report.


o    White is used in accenting the bear's claws.

Read more about this at http://www.ehow.com/how_5648923_display-state-flag.html.

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