Where the California state flag was born — Sonoma Plaza, June 14, 1846. Before sunrise on June 14, 1846, about thirty American settlers rode south out of the Sacramento Valley, crossed into the Mexican pueblo of Sonoma, and took General Mariano Vallejo into custody at his home on the north edge of the town's eight-acre plaza. They had with them a strip of unbleached cotton on which one of them, William Todd, had hand-painted a grizzly bear, a five-pointed star, a red bar at the bottom, and the words "California Republic." They raised that flag over Sonoma Plaza and declared an independent republic — the only republic California has ever had. It lasted twenty-five days. On July 9, 1846, the United States flag was raised over the same plaza, ending the California Republic and folding Alta California into the Mexican-American War. The hand-painted Bear Flag became the basis of the state flag of California, formally adopted in 1911. Sonoma Plaza is still the largest town plaza in California — and the Bear Flag still flies there on the anniversary every June.
Today Sonoma is the historic anchor of California's wine country, a year-round destination organized around the same eight-acre plaza that General Vallejo paced out in 1835. Visitors come for the Plaza, the Mission, the Barracks, the Bear Flag Monument, the adobes, the Sonoma Valley AVA wineries north and east of town producing Cabernet, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel, the Valley of the Moon drive to Glen Ellen, and the Sonoma Coast a short drive west. Our Sonoma designs gather that identity into wearable form. Explore the collection and carry California's flag with you.
Why People Visit Sonoma California
Sonoma is the rare California town where the state's earliest chapters are still standing on the same square. Visitors come for the Plaza — the largest town plaza in California — and the adobes that ring it. They come for the Bear Flag Monument and the story of the 25-day California Republic. They come for Mission San Francisco Solano, the last of the California missions. They come for Buena Vista and the Sonoma Valley AVA, where California's premium wine country began. And they come because Sonoma is, in the most literal way, where California started.
