Welcome, Friends, to the Bear Flag Museum.

Here is a chance to view all things Bear Flag and California State Flag.  Enjoy yourself.

We have attempted and will continue to attempt to collect and store at this site all the images, documents, textual materials and analyses related to these flags as we can.  We only ask that you respect the copyrights and interests of the owners of the materials collected on this site.

Check out our Galleries.  Enjoy the different and often strange expressions of these flags over the years.  Read through some of the first things said about the Bear Flag.  Meet some of the people who have played significant roles in the history of the Bear and California flags.  Peruse the chronology of these flags through over one hundred and sixty years of their existence.  Understand the laws and regulations governing the State flag.
If you have images of the flags, or resource materials, or wish to contribute original analyses of issues related to these flags, please contact us.

Again, welcome to the BFM, and please enjoy your visit.

As we were getting started on this project, I was asked “Why ‘The Bear Flag Museum’, why not the ‘California Flag Museum’?”  The answer, for me, is simple.  Since June of 1846, when the Bear Flag was first created, it has been called by that name.  This was long before the State decided to adopt a flag, and before there was a State.  When California determined to adopt the flag, it was with the language “The Bear Flag is the State Flag of California."

The Bear Flag is the California Flag, and not vice versa.  The Bear Flag had a long history (65 years) before it became the flag of the State.  The flag is the Bear Flag and this is its online museum.