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San Francisco 49ers (U.S.)

National Football League, NFC West

Last modified: 2019-05-06 by rick wyatt
Keywords: united states | football | nfl | nfc | forty-niners | niners | san francisco forty-niners |
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Forty-niners flag   image from Pete Loeser, 16 December 2016



See also:


Introduction: San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, are a professional American football team in the National Football Conference (NFC) Western division, a part of the National Football League (NFL). They currently play their home games at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. They are named after the prospectors who arrived in Northern California during the 1849 Gold Rush.
The team was founded in 1946 as part of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) which later became part of the NFL in 1949. The team first played in Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, later in Candlestick Park (1970-2013), before their final move in 2014 to Levi's Stadium. The 49ers won five Super Bowl championships between 1981 and 1995, and 2016 marks the 70th Anniversary for the team."
Note: Be aware that there are a host of manufacturer's variants of these and other fan flags being marketed for "Niners" fans. This includes garden flags, banners, and pennants.
Pete Loeser, 16 December 2016


The Paramount Flag Co. '49ers flag (1980s)

Forty-niners flag image by Jim Ferrigan, 8 March 2017

Here is the San Francisco '49ers flag made by The Paramount Flag Co.  This flag dates from the 1980s, and was sold to the 49ers, fans and sports bars alike. The flags were all applique, single faced, 200 denier nylon flags. This example has a reverse hoist, and a sand pocket for display at a very popular sports bar, Pat O'Shea's Mad Hatter, on Geary St. in San Francisco. 
Jim Ferrigan, 7 March 2017


Commemorative flags

Levi's Stadium Inaugural Season Flag

  image from Pete Loeser and Tomislav Todorovic, 24 February 2017

This flag was issued to celebrate the 49ers move to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara during the 2014 Season. Sadly, it also marked the impending destruction of Candlestick Park by developers the next year. Somehow Kezar Stadium still survives.
Pete Loeser, 16 December 2016


49ers 70th Anniversary Flag

  image from Pete Loeser and Tomislav Todorovic, 24 February 2017

This flag celebrates the 70th Anniversary of the franchise (1946-2016) playing for San Francisco. The emblem is also seen on the 2016 season uniforms of the Niners
Pete Loeser, 16 December 2016


Fan flags

49ers Season Ticket Holders Flag

  image from Pete Loeser and Tomislav Todorovic, 16 December 2016

Those that could afford season tickets to Niners games at Levi's Park received special "Season Ticket Holder's" fan flags. They came in specially made wooden cases. They have become very popular on e-Bay with many rip-offs available with slightly different designs.
Pete Loeser, 16 December 2016


49ers Man Cave Flags
Manufacturer's Variants

   
images from Pete Loeser and Tomislav Todorovic, 24 February 2017

This popular 49er fan flag is for that special room, the "Man Cave" I've seen them and variants for most NFL teams, same design, different colors, etc..
Pete Loeser, 16 December 2016


49ers House Divided Flags

    
images from Pete Loeser and Tomislav Todorovic, 24 February 2017

These flags are sold for divided households, where one partner is a 49ers fan, and one supports another team. These examples are for fans of the Raiders and 49ers, or fans of the 49ers and Seahawks.
Pete Loeser, 16 December 2016


San Francisco Home Team Support Flag
Football and Baseball

  image from Pete Loeser, 24 February 2017

This flag shows support to both San Francisco professional teams - the 49ers and the San Francisco Giants.
Pete Loeser, 24 February 2017


49ers Helmet Style Flag

  image from Pete Loeser, 24 February 2017

This helmet-style flag done in team colors is being made for most NFL teams and has become very popular.
Pete Loeser, 24 February 2017


49ers Team Logo Flag - Manufacturer's Variants

  image by Tomislav Todorovic, 26 February 2017

An increasingly popular manufacturer's variant of the 49er's Flag with large logo on black field is now being sold. (sources here and here) The team logo used here is derived from the image of the team logo on Wikimedia Commons.
Tomislav Todorovic, 26 February 2017


  image by Tomislav Todorovic, 7 March 2017

The flag with large team logo may also have white field. Photos of such flags in use may be found here:
http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/the-official-san-francisco-49ers-thread.454368804/page-8 (image: http://prod.images.49ers.clubs.nflcdn.com)
and here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/49ers/comments/1gnx7l/mod_post_49er_football_countdown (image: http://prod.images.49ers.clubs.nflcdn.com)

Note that in both of these cases, the flags were carried by the team players, which means that their use is officially sanctioned, or at least accepted, by the team.
Tomislav Todorovic, 7 March 2017

  image by Tomislav Todorovic, 5 March 2017

Another variant of the helmet style flag, with black rays instead of white and some details of the helmet in different colors, can be seen here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Oakland-Raiders-Helmet-Flag
Tomislav Todorovic, 5 March 2017

This illustration brings up an interesting question. We see how some manufacturers, probably to avoid obtaining or paying for legal permission from official sources (in this case the NFL), make and market slight variants of popular flags. They do this by introducing slight design variations in colors or logos. They also sometimes do this by manufacturing in different countries to avoid copyright laws or manufacture in such small quantities that they basically make it too costly for the original manufacturers to legally sue to protect their intellectual property. These flags, commonly called "rip-offs", are so numerous they present a special challenge to flag scholars such as ourselves.
The question is should we illustrate all the variants or just show the original design and then ignore all the rest? Are we encouraging or helping these "pirates" by showing their illegal variant designs, or as flag scholars is it our duty to examine and show all such variants if they exist as actual physical flags?
Rick Wyatt, 5 March 2017


"You're in 49ers Country" Flag

  image by Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019

This "You're in 49ers Country" Flag is a design being sold for all NFL teams with suitable logos and team colors.
Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019


49ers Faithful Flags - Manufacturers Variants

   
images by Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019

There are a host of 49ers fan flags that declare faithfulness to the Niners. Here are three examples.
Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019

image by Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019


San Francisco 49ers "Familia" Flag

  image by Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019

This unusual San Francisco 49ers flag design combines elements from the United Farm Workers flag with the 49ers logo to produce a fan flag for the 49er Familia (family).
Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019


49ers Faithful Empire Flag

  image by Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019

This fan flag declares a San Francisco 49ers "Empire" for the faithful apparently.
Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019


San Francisco 49ers Empire Faithful Flag
"Stars & Stripes" Variant

  image by Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019

Another 49ers Empire fan flag for the faithful, but using a red and white stars and stripes pattern this time.
Pete Loeser, 5 May 2019