The Bear on the California Flag

Bay Curious

KQED

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There's a pervasive story that the bear on California's state flag is modeled on a real California grizzly that was kept in captivity in San Francisco in the late 1800s. But when Bay Curious listener Mark Karn started researching Monarch, the facts weren't lining up for him. He wants to know, is it really Monarch on the state flag? Or, could it be a different bear altogether? Additional Resources: Who Is the Bear on the California Flag? A Story Bigger Than One Legend Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Katherine Monahan. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Gabriela Glueck, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KQED comes from Genentech, the original biotech company.
0:05.3	For 50 years, Genentech has pioneered more than 40 scientific breakthroughs across various
0:10.1	diseases, bringing greater hope to patients everywhere.
0:14.0	Learn more at gene.com. That's gENE.com.
0:18.2	Support for KQED podcasts comes from lifelong medical care everyone belongs at lifelong
0:24.3	lifelong life long provides integrated health care for babies moms dads grandparents and families
0:30.0	across the east bay for all ages for all stages of life for all communities lifelong
0:35.7	medical.org.
0:39.3	From KQED.
0:45.5	Out of the 50 states that make up the union, California is considered pretty cool, right?
0:51.6	We've got the good weather, the stunning coastline, those laid-back vibes, and we've definitely got a cool state flag.
0:57.2	If you look at other flags, many stick to geometric designs.
1:02.0	Wyoming does have a buffalo.
1:03.8	Louisiana's got a pelican, but California, our flag has a grizzly bear.
1:10.0	Bay Curious listener Mark Karn was researching the flag one day.
1:13.6	I like to read a lot.
1:14.7	And whenever I read, I like to go off on tangents.
1:19.0	He found an unexpected story behind it, one that has been repeated for many years in newspapers, videos, and websites.
1:28.0	He read that the bear on our flag was modeled after a famous bear named Monarch.
1:34.8	Monarch was one of California's last grizzlies, captured in the mountains and then put on display in San Francisco.
1:42.3	I kind of deep dive into Monarch the Bear.
1:46.6	I was fascinated by it.
	...

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