Maryland State Symbols and Identity: Flag, Seal, Motto, and More

Maryland's official symbols are not decorative afterthoughts. They encode centuries of political negotiation, colonial-era family heraldry, and the particular stubbornness of a border state that managed to stay in the Union while watching itself tear in half. From the flag — genuinely one of the most distinctive in the country — to a state crustacean that would be unremarkable anywhere else but is practically sacred here, Maryland's identity markers repay close attention.

Definition and Scope

Maryland's state symbols are designations formally enacted by the Maryland General Assembly through statute, codified in the Maryland Code, State Government Article. The category spans the constitutionally significant — the Great Seal, the flag, the motto — and the charmingly specific, including the state sport (jousting, designated in 1962, making Maryland the first state to adopt an official sport), the state crustacean (the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus), and the state fossil shell (Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae, a Miocene-era gastropod found in the Chesapeake Bay region).

The scope of this page covers state-level symbols as defined under Maryland law. It does not address municipal seals, county flags, or the separate heraldic traditions of Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City, which operate under their own local authority. Federal symbols, monuments designated by Congress, and interpretations of state identity by private organizations fall outside this coverage.

For broader context on how Maryland's governmental structures shape and maintain these symbols, the Maryland Government Authority covers the legislative, executive, and judicial institutions that enact and administer state law — including the statutory processes by which new symbols are designated.

How It Works

The Flag

Maryland's flag is, by most accounts, the only state flag in the United States based on English heraldic standards. It quarters the arms of two families: the black-and-gold (or, in heraldic language, Or and Sable) of the Calvert family, and the red-and-white cross bottony of the Crossland family. George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, used the Calvert arms; the Crossland device came through his mother's side.

During the Civil War, Confederate sympathizers in Maryland adopted the red-and-white Crossland colors as a symbol of resistance, while Union supporters flew the Calvert colors. The combined four-quartered design only became standard at a reunion of Union and Confederate veterans in 1880 — a visual reconciliation stitched permanently into state iconography. The General Assembly formally adopted it as the official state flag in 1904 (Maryland State Archives, Maryland at a Glance: State Flag).

The Great Seal

The Great Seal of Maryland dates to 1648, making it one of the oldest continuously used governmental seals in the Western Hemisphere. The obverse displays a mounted knight in armor bearing the Calvert shield. The reverse shows a farmer and a fisherman — a quietly accurate representation of the Chesapeake economy — flanking a shield quartered with the Calvert and Crossland arms, surmounted by the Earl of Baltimore's helmet and coronet. The current seal is governed by the Maryland Code, State Government Article, §§ 13-101 through 13-106 (Maryland General Assembly, State Government Article).

The Motto

Fatti maschii, parole femine — rendered in English as "Strong Deeds, Gentle Words" — is the state motto, appearing on both the Great Seal and the flag's central escutcheon. It is one of only two state mottoes in the United States written in Italian rather than Latin or English, the other being a debated distinction that Maryland wins outright.

A Structured Breakdown of Key Symbols

State flag — Calvert and Crossland heraldic quartering, formally adopted 1904
Great Seal — obverse (mounted knight) and reverse (farmer and fisherman), statutory authority in State Government Article §§ 13-101–13-106
State motto — Fatti maschii, parole femine (Italian), "Strong Deeds, Gentle Words"
State sport — Jousting, designated 1962, the first official state sport in U.S. history
State crustacean — Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), designated 1989
State bird — Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula), which shares its name — and its black-and-orange coloring — with the Calvert arms
State flower — Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), designated 1918
State tree — White oak (Quercus alba), designated 1941
State fossil shell — Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae, a gastropod from the Miocene epoch

The Baltimore oriole's coloring is not a coincidence. The bird was named by early English settlers who noticed that its plumage matched the livery colors of the Calvert family coat of arms — a piece of colonial nomenclature that has aged unusually well.

Common Scenarios

State symbols surface in predictable places: official correspondence, government websites, vehicle license plates (Maryland's distinctive blue crab plate is issued by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and funds the Chesapeake Bay Trust), public school curricula, and legislative ceremony. The Great Seal appears on all official documents requiring executive authentication, including signed legislation and state contracts.

The flag appears on state buildings, at the State House in Annapolis — the oldest state capitol building still in continuous legislative use in the country, dating to 1772 (Maryland State Archives, State House) — and at sporting events and public ceremonies with a frequency that would surprise visitors from states with less visually assertive flags.

Decision Boundaries

Not everything called a "Maryland symbol" carries statutory weight. A distinction exists between:

Legislatively designated symbols, which are codified in the Maryland Code and carry the formal authority of the General Assembly
Informal or cultural designations, which may have widespread recognition — Old Bay seasoning, for instance, commands near-religious devotion in the state but holds no statutory status

The Maryland State Archives maintains the authoritative list of officially designated symbols. Proposals for new state symbols are introduced as bills in the General Assembly, referred to committee, and subject to the full legislative process — the same path a tax bill or criminal statute would take. A proposed state symbol that does not clear both chambers and receive the Governor's signature remains unofficial regardless of popular sentiment.

The Maryland state identity overview provides additional context on how these symbols function within Maryland's broader civic and cultural framework, and the Maryland homepage serves as the entry point for the full scope of state-level information covered across this resource.