John P. McDonough, Secretary of State Photograph by Tom Darden,
State of Maryland The Maryland flag has been described as the
perfect state flag bold colors, interesting patterns, and
correct heraldry—a flag that fairly shouts "Maryland." The
design of the flag comes from the shield in the coat of arms of
the Calvert family, the colonial proprietors of Maryland. George
Calvert, first Lord Baltimore, adopted a coat of arms that
included a shield with alternating quadrants featuring the
yellow-and-black colors of his paternal family and the red-and-
white colors of his maternal family, the Crosslands1 . When the
in 1904 adopted a banner of this design as the state flag, a
link was forged between modern-day Maryland and the very
earliest chapter of the proprietorship of the Calvert family.
Despite the antiquity of its design, the Maryland flag is of
post-Civil War origin. Throughout the colonial period, only the
yellow-and-black Calvert family colors are mentioned in
descriptions of the Maryland flag. After indep