Flag of Maryland - History

History

The Maryland colony was founded by Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, hence the use of his coat of arms in the flag. At first, only the gold and black Calvert arms were associated with Maryland, being reintroduced in 1854. The red and white Crossland arms, which belonged to the family of Calvert's paternal grandmother, gained popularity during the American Civil War, during which Maryland remained with the Union despite many citizens' support for the Confederacy. Those Marylanders who supported the Confederacy, many of whom fought in the Army of Northern Virginia, adopted the Crossland banner, which was red and white (seen as "secession colors").

After the war, Marylanders who had fought on either side of the conflict returned to their state in need of reconciliation. The present design, which incorporates both of the coats of arms used by George Calvert, began appearing. At first, the Crossland coat of arms was put in the upper-left corner, but this was supposedly swapped with the Union's Calvert arms because of the Union victory.

The flag in its present form was first flown on October 11, 1880, in Baltimore, Maryland, at a parade marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of Baltimore. It also was flown on October 25, 1888, at the Gettysburg Battlefield during ceremonies dedicating monuments to Maryland regiments of the Army of the Potomac. However, it was not officially adopted as the state flag until 1904 (Chapter 48, Acts of 1904, effective March 9, 1904).

In 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) placed Maryland's flag fourth best in design quality out of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state and U.S. territory flags ranked.