Maryland Flag

Maryland Flag History Adopted: March 9, 1904Maryland Flag Design: The Calvert colors are described as gold and black, and the Crossland colors as red and silver, but in heraldry gold is depicted with yellow and silver with white. The cross in the Crossland's arms ends in demi-fleurs-de-lis and is properly a cross flory; the cross in the Maryland flag terminates in buttons, and in heraldry is termed a cross bottony. The word "bottony" is spelled several ways; the version used here conforms to the 1945 law that made the cross bottony the official ornament for a flagstaff carrying the Maryland flag.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 f