The Bear Flag draped and tied around the Bear Flag Monument, Sonoma, ca.1915

Photograph of the Bear Flag draped and tied around the Bear Flag Monument, Sonoma, ca.1915. The white flag shows a star and a bear in the upper left corner and a stripe at the bottom. The flag is draped across a large boulder with a plaque commemorating the history of the flag. The plaque reads: "Bear Flag, raised June 14, 1846, erected July 4, 1907, S.V.W.O.". Trees and a building are visible in the background.; "Historic California Bear Flag as photographed in 1890. This flag, raised at Sonoma on June 14, 1846, was in the possession of the Society of California Pioneers at the time of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, and burned during the conflagration. According to the California Blue Book: 'the flag was designed by William Todd on a piece of new unbleached cotton. The star imitated the lone star of Texas. A grizzly bear represented the many bears seen in the state. The word, 'California Republic' was placed beneath the star and bear. The Bear Flag was replaced by the American flag. It was adopted by the 1911 State Legislature as the State Flag.'" -- unknown author.; "This monument was erected by the Native Sons of the Golden West and the state of California to commemorate the raising of the Bear Flag on this spot, June 14, 1846 by the Bear Flag Party and their declaration of the freedom of California from Mexican rule. On July 9, 1846, the Bear Flag was hauled down and the American flag here raised in its place by Lieutenant Joseph W. Revere U.S.A. who was sent to Sonoma from San Francisco by Commander John B. Montgomery of the U.S. sloop of war Portsmouth, following the raising of the American flag at Monterey July 7, 1846 by Commodore John Drake Sloat." -- unknown author.