Historianon. Here's a link for the Bear Flag Republic's flag. Star pre-dates Mao, in fact meant to be like Texas.
Interestingly, the Bear Flag revolt (overthrow of Mexican rule that led to the nation -state of California) was headed by Georgia native John C Frémont (the first Republican presidential candidate) who was on an exploratory assignment toward the Oregon Territory when he quit to lead the revolt.
https://www.50states.com/flag/caflag.htm