The "Original Storm Flag" — with a California grizzly bear as a symbol of strength and unyielding resistance. :::*Bear flags were briefly used in 1846 by American settlers of the California Republic episode, in the former Mexican department of Alta California. :::*Original black and white image from the mid-Nineteenth century of the first bear flag, by Peter Storm, according to some witnesses. It preceded the Todd flag by a week. The flag may have been lost in the San Francisco fire which also burned the Todd flag, or a second or same flag may have been buried with Mr. Storm.