It is the first such team in the western United States established specifically to actively reach out to traditionally under-represented groups in rugby, such as people of color, gay men, and women.
With the unexpected financial backing of an anonymous donor in summer 2000, the club's organizing efforts accelerated in August and September 2000.
The Fog formally incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of California soon after, with Mickle, Geddes and Eberhart as its first elected officers.
Derrick Mickle first met Mark Bingham and Jason Reimuller in fall 1998 while playing on a gay flag football team in San Francisco.
Bored with flag football, the three had a discussion pondering what it would be like to play for a gay rugby team, unaware of the existence of the Washington Renegades, the London Kings Cross Steelers, the Ponsonby Heroes (Auckland, New Zealand), and the Manchester Village Spartans (Manchester, England, United Kingdom).
By summer 2001, Bingham was planning to move his public relations business to New York City in fall 2001 and relocated there himself permanently.
Inspired by the success of the Fog, Bingham connected with Scott Glaessgen, a rugby player and local in New York City.
Carrying on with Bingham's intention, Glaessgen went on to recruit others to found the Gotham Knights, New York City's gay/inclusive rugby club.
Eight teams traveled to San Francisco during Pride weekend of June 28–29, 2002 to compete over two days with the Fog coming out on top as the Cup's first winners.
Within IGR, the club competes every two years for the Bingham Cup, winning the first two tournaments in 2002 (San Francisco, California, United States) and 2004 (London, England).
Other tournaments the team competes in include Scrum by the Sea, Seattle Magnitude XVs, and the Wild West Rugby Fest.
After a trip to London and Manchester in January 2001, Pete Arden developed the club's coat of arms, a link to—and reminder of—the culture in which the game originated.
The team's coat of arms consists of three silver stars within a black diagonal stripe on a wavy blue-and-silver background.
In heraldry terms, the coat of arms is blazoned "barry nebuly of six argent and azure, on a bend sable three mullets of the first".
The patterned background is called barry nebuly, and is often taken to represent clouds, water, or air, suitable for a team named after San Francisco's most famous meteorological phenomenon.
In 2007, the American Heraldry Society's Fall 2007 Design Award was made to the San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Club for its distinctive coat of arms.