The design for the Great Seal of the State of California was adopted at the Constitutional Convention in 1849. Thirty-one stars are displayed, one for each state which comprised the Union following the admission of California September 9th, 1850. Beneath these stars appears the motto,…

   Beginning with the first Spain-ish settlement in California in 1769 the government was divided between the Padres who exercised an ecclesiastical control of the missions, and commandantes who exercised military control over the soldiers and presidios and generally over crimes. With the establishment of pueblos a short time later, a civil government was established which consisted merely of a Governor, but for a long period of time it was of no practical importance.

   The…

The Bear Flag was designated California's State Flag by legislative enactment in 1911. It is patterned after the historic flag flown at Sonoma on June 14th, 1846 by a group of American settlers in revolt against Mexican rule in California. This short-lived revolution ended on July 9th,…