{"id":2547,"date":"2015-09-03T08:26:59","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T12:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=2547"},"modified":"2024-06-28T14:56:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T18:56:11","slug":"california-joined-union-with-california-state-flag-waving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/california-joined-union-with-california-state-flag-waving\/","title":{"rendered":"California joined Union with Bear Flag waving"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"California's<\/a>On September 9, 1850 \u2013 165 years ago \u2013 California entered the Union after being a republic, not a territory of the United States. It was as if a foreign nation had decided to join the U.S. \u2013 and it brought its own state flag along.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn June 14, 1846, a small band of settlers marched on the Mexican garrison at Sonoma and took the commandant\u2026prisoner,\u201d the state\u2019s website explains. \u201cThey\u2026declared California to be a Republic independent of Mexico. This uprising became known as the Bear Flag Revolt after the hastily designed flag depicting a grizzly bear and a five-pointed star over a red bar and the words \u2018California Republic.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A mural depicts the first raising of the bear flag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That flag officially became the California state flag<\/a> in 1911. The grizzly represented strength, while the single star was a nod to Texas, the Lone Star State, which had separated itself from Mexico in 1836 and briefly became a republic.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. was very eager to have California join the nation because gold had been discovered there and triggered the gold rush of 1849. A year later, the new state was accepted. (Trivia question: Who first brought down the Bear Flag and lifted the Star-Spangled Banner<\/a> in Sonoma? Answer below.)<\/p>\n

As for designating a capital, the Golden State took its time. The first option was San Jose, which proved inadequate, and the next choice was Vallejo. Still unhappy, the legislature moved to Benicia, a small town near San Francisco, and a statehouse was constructed. But with no room for growth, the state finally settled its capital in Sacramento.<\/p>\n

\"California's<\/a>The capital was near Sutter\u2019s Mill, where the gold rush had broken out. The state\u2019s seal contains the word \u201cEureka,\u201d meaning \u201cI have found it,\u201d a reference to the discovery of the gold. According to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, \u201cIn 1957, attempts were made to establish \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 as the state motto,\u00a0but \u2018Eureka\u2019 was made the official state motto in 1963.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The seal also features Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, sailing ships, a prospector, the grizzly bear from the republic\u2019s flag and an arc of 31 stars, indicative of California\u2019s becoming the 31st state.<\/p>\n

\"Sacramento's<\/a>As for Sacramento, it adopted its current municipal flag<\/a>, its second, in 1989. Described by one vexillologist as \u201cmodernistic\u201d in design, it has a prominent \u201cstylized white S curving lazily\u201d from the bottom left to the top right. The shape represents two rivers in the area. The banner includes five colors: gold, white, green and two shades of blue.<\/p>\n

The first city flag, adopted just 25 years earlier, was littered with almost cartoonish images: a prospector, the capitol building, an old-fashioned locomotive and a Pony Express rider heading west in a coonskin hat.<\/p>\n

Lying in front of the capitol on that first flag was a red camellia. That\u2019s not surprising because the co-designer of the flag was E.A. Combatalade, founder of the Camellia Festival Association, which hosted its annual fete in Sacramento.<\/p>\n

(Answer to trivia question: Joseph Warren Revere, grandson of Paul Revere, lowered the Bear Flag and lifted the first American flag in Sonoma, California.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On September 9, 1850 \u2013 165 years ago \u2013 California entered the Union after being a republic, not a territory of the United States. It was as if a foreign nation had decided to join the U.S. \u2013 and it brought its own state flag along. \u201cOn June 14, 1846, a small band of settlers… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[178,3,285,103],"class_list":["post-2547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-california-state-flag","tag-history","tag-municipal-flag","tag-star-spangled-banner"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia joined Union with Bear Flag - California State Flag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Sept 9, 1850 California entered the Union. 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