The flag of California shows a large white field above a red horizontal stripe with a brown bear on a green pedestal, the name of the state and a red, five-pointed star in the upper corner. The star dates back to 1836, when the autonomy movement of California, which belonged to Mexico, designed a white flag with a red five-pointed star in it. The star stood for peace and was also intended as a reminder of the "Lone Star of Texas". The "Lone Star" is a flag symbol that symbolises a lone star that wants to join the other stars in the US flag; it symbolises the desire to join the USA. This was not only the case in Texas or California, but also in West Florida, Cuba and Puerto Rico. As a result of the Mexican-US-american War (1846–1848), California seceded from Mexico and a flag was officially introduced for the country. It was designed by William Todd and first hoisted on 14th of June in 1846, when US settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California. This flag originally showed two horizontal stripes in white and red in a ratio of 5:1 and in the upper corner of the broad white stripe the red star and a red bear (symbolising strength) and below it the name of the state. On 7th of July in 1846, Commodore John Drake Sloat of the US Navy's Pacific Squadron took down the Bear Flag in Monterey, the capital of Alta California, and hoisted the flag of the USA for the first time, claiming California for the United States. From this point onwards, the flag of the USA flew over the country. The bear flag was only revived during the Civil War (1861–1865) by groups supporting the Confederate States (CSA). On 4th of July in 1861, Major J. P. Gillis briefly unfurled the Confederate flag, the "Stars and Bars", then in use in the CSA. The bear flag was revived and reintroduced on 3rd of February in 1911, somewhat modified, as the flag of the State of California. It showed a brown bear on a green pedestal above the narrow red stripe in the centre of the wide white stripe, with the name of the state proclaimed in 1846 below and the red, five-pointed star in the upper corner. The design was described in the statute of 1911, but was not standardised, so that there were different designs in the details. In 1953, the appearance of the flag was standardised and the current design was introduced. Today, the red stripe stands for courage, the white for purity, the star for sovereignty and the bear for strength. In the USA, this flag is often jokingly referred to as the "communist flag" because it shows a bear and even a red star. "Bears" is a joking term for the (Soviet) Russians.
1846–1848 · Mexican-US-american War, US-american settlers proclaim the independence of California (California Republic) in 1846, Mexico loses in the war about 40% of its territory to the United States, including California (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on 2nd of February in 1848)
Autumn 1848 · Sutter loses New Helvetia in the wake of the California Gold Rush
9th of September 1850 · California becomes the 31st State of the USA
1854 · Sacramento becomes the capital of California
The origin of the name California, there are three theories: 1st) The name is Spanish and Latin origin as the composition of the word "caliente" and "fornax", which means "hot stove". 2nd) The name comes from Greek mythology, dating back to the Amazon Queen "Kalliphia" and was given the land by the Spaniards because of the emergence of female Native American warriors. 3rd) The name comes from a novel published in 1510 by the Spaniard Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, which occurs in a legendary land of gold called "California".
