Flag of Maryland
 |
|
| Use |
Civil and state flag 
|
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | November 25, 1904 |
| Design | Heraldic banner of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore |
The official flag of the state of Maryland consists of the heraldic banner of George Calvert, Lord Baltimore (1579–1632). The flag was officially adopted by the Maryland General Assembly in 1904.
The first Maryland flag design consisted of the Seal of Maryland on a blue background, similar to many other state flags.
The black and gold design on the flag is the coat of arms from the Calvert line. It was granted to George Calvert as a reward for his storming a fortification during a battle (the vertical bars approximate the bars of the palisade). The red and white design is the coat of arms of the Crossland line, the family of Lord Baltimore's mother, and features a cross bottony with the red and white sides of the cross alternating. Since George Calvert's mother was a heiress, he was entitled to use both coats of arms in his banner. It is one of only four U.S. state flags that does not contain the color blue (the other three being Alabama, California, and New Mexico). It is also the only US state flag to be directly based on English heraldry, although the flag of Washington, D.C. is a modification of the coat of arms of George Washington's family.
The heraldic blazon is: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, paly of six Or and Sable, a bend counterchanged (for Calvert); 2nd and 3rd, quarterly argent and gules, a cross bottony counterchanged (for Crossland).
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