An Error can change the outlook of a Flag........!

       After the Californians revolted against the Mexican government, they wanted to raise a flag to commemorate their victory. One of the rebel leaders, Captain Robert Bartlett advocated they use an agricultural symbol to embody the rich agricultural regions of their beloved republic (This was no coincidence considering that Captain Bob had developed the Bartlett pear years earlier!). They quickly pieced together a rough preliminary design and shipped it off to William L. Todd  with instructions for him to paint a large pear across the middle of the flag. These instructions must not have been very legible, because instead of painting an enormous fruit, he instead painted a gigantic grizzly bear across the front, despite the fact that there ARE NO grizzlies in California! 


                                The Recommended Californian Pear Flag

                                   The Current Californian Bear Flag -

 Regardless, the rebels still hoisted the erroneous flag, intending to change it at a later date. This never happened though, because within a month the Americans captured the Mexican capital of Monterey and officially proclaimed California to be an American territory!
When California chose its official state flag in 1911, officials decided to go with a modernized version the one used during the revolution. Though a giant bear seems to be a strangely notable choice even today, most do not even realize the flag was intended to have been far more bizarre!