A bold quartered design combining the gold-and-black arms of the Calvert family with the red-and-white cross bottony of the Crossland family.
The design
The Flag of usa-state/maryland/" data-it-autolink="1">Maryland is a national emblem rendered in the colours and proportions defined by the country’s flag law. Its official aspect ratio is 2:3, the height-to-length ratio that fixes how the flag should be cut and flown. The colour scheme uses gold, black, red, white, with each shade specified to particular Pantone or RGB values for official reproduction.
Colour palette
| Colour | Name | Common symbolism |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | gold | Stands in for sunlight, mineral wealth or sovereign authority. |
| Black | black | May reference the people, ancestral heritage, or the determination to overcome. |
| Red | red | Often signifies courage, sacrifice, revolution or the blood of those who fought for the nation. |
| White | white | Commonly represents peace, purity, honesty or snow-capped landscapes. |
Symbolism & heraldry
The Calvert quarters (gold and black paly of six, with a counterchanged bend) honour Lord Baltimore, founder of the Maryland Colony. The Crossland quarters (red and white quarterly with a counterchanged cross bottony) come from his maternal grandmother's family. Together they represent Maryland's 17th-century proprietary heritage.
Heraldic elements on the Flag of Maryland — bands, charges, emblems or stars — each carry meaning agreed at the moment of the flag’s adoption. Re-readings happen across generations: a colour or a symbol that began with one meaning often picks up further layers as the country’s history unfolds.
Adoption & history
The current flag was adopted in 1904. Earlier banners flown by Flag of Maryland reflected the politics of their day; each redesign typically marked a moment of independence, regime change or constitutional reform. The current flag was chosen, debated and codified through the country’s official channels and is now protected by flag law.
Etiquette & protocol
The Flag of Maryland should be flown with respect: never allowed to touch the ground, never used as drapery for ceremonies it was not made for, and lowered or removed at sundown unless illuminated. When flown alongside other national flags, it takes precedence on home soil and is hoisted first and lowered last. On days of national mourning, the flag is flown at half-mast in line with directives from the head of state. These conventions are common to most nations and are usually written into the flag’s founding statute.
Specifications
| Field | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Flag of Maryland | — |
| Continent | North America | — |
| ISO alpha-2 | 2-letter code | |
| ISO alpha-3 | 3-letter code | |
| Adopted | 1904 | year of current design |
| Proportion | 2:3 | height : length |
| Colours | gold, black, red, white | — |
| Designer | — | |
| Emoji | Unicode codepoint sequence |
Did you know?
Maryland's flag is the only US state flag based directly on English heraldry — and is widely considered one of the most distinctive state flags in America.
