| State Capitol, Maryland Day, Maryland, history, historic, heritage, colonial | 1 Mar 2010 |
| What's the Meaning Behind the Maryland Flag? by fourrivers |
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The flag of Maryland is one of the most colorful of any state, and behind the colors and patterns lies a symbolism related to Maryland's first families. The following information comes from the Maryland State Archives website:
"Maryland's flag bears the arms of the Calvert and Crossland families. Calvert was the family name of the Lords Baltimore who founded Maryland, and their colors of gold and black appear in the first and fourth quarters of the flag. Crossland was the family of the mother of George Calvert, first Lord Baltimore. The red and white Crossland colors, with a cross bottony, appear in the second and third quarters. This flag first was flown October 11, 1880, in Baltimore at a parade marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of Baltimore. It also was flown October 25, 1888, at Gettysburg Battlefield for ceremonies dedicating monuments to Maryland regiments of the Army of the Potomac. Officially, it was adopted as the State flag in 1904 (Chapter 48, Acts of 1904, effective March 9, 1904)."
A "cross bottony" is the shape of the vertical cross used on the flag (and also seen on the stop of the flagstaff in the illustration -- Maryland has a law requiring that if any ornament is affixed to the top of a flagstaff carrying the Maryland flag, the ornament must be a gold cross bottony.)
Submitted by Carol Benson on 3/1/10. Would you like to submit a blog entry? Email us at heritage_area@aacounty.org.
