California’s colorful history of flags is on Stearn’s Wharf. 12 flagpoles with cool replicas of each design flown since 1542 each have plaques describing the events leading to the change of the flag. It is worth the time to learn about the land claims, settlers, rulers, exchanges of prisoners, revolt, capture and other battles that resulted in new flags for our great state. Tourists tend to spend a lot of time dining and debauching, so why not break it up a little and spend some time understanding how these flags symbolize the history of California — for FREE!