{"id":201,"date":"2013-04-25T13:50:37","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T17:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=201"},"modified":"2024-12-09T21:23:43","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T02:23:43","slug":"marylands-crowded-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland\u2019s crowded flag"},"content":{"rendered":"

By James Breig<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

On April 28, 1788 \u2013 225 years ago \u2013 Maryland became the seventh united state. It came into the union with a unique history that would evolve into a cluttered flag.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Charles I of Great Britain granted Maryland\u2019s charter in 1632 and assigned it to Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert). The king\u2019s command was \u201cto transport an ample Colony of the English Nation unto a certaine Countrey\u2026in the parts of America not yet cultivated and planted.\u201d Maryland was named for Charles\u2019 wife, Henrietta Maria.<\/p>\n

Successive Lord Baltimores would hold sway over the new colony as royal governors, so it is no surprise that the Maryland flag would derive in part from the Calvert crest, making it the only state flag drawn from British heraldry. Another family is also represented on the flag: the Crosslands. They were the ancestors of the mother of George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore.<\/p>\n

The Calvert crest, colored black and gold, resembles a distorted checkerboard; the Crossland crest is red and white with \u201ca cross bottony.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the Civil War, a time of national division, supporters of the Union waved the Calvert flag, while secessionists opted for the Crossland crest. After the war ended, Marylanders began joining the two flags as a symbol of their reunion.<\/p>\n

The combined banner was not officially adopted as the state flag<\/a> until 1904 \u2013 272 years after King Charles granted the land to the Calverts. A 1904 Maryland newspaper article remarked that the flag seemed to \u201chave been adopted by common consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under an unusual \u2013 perhaps unique — state law that governs flagpoles, \u201cany ornament affixed to the top of a flagstaff carrying the Maryland flag\u2026must be a gold cross bottony (Botonee)<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two mentions of \u201cbottony\u201d demand a clarification. The word doesn\u2019t mean the study of flowers. A bottony is a cross with a trefoil design on the end of each arm. The word derives from a French term meaning \u201ccovered with buds.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By James Breig On April 28, 1788 \u2013 225 years ago \u2013 Maryland became the seventh united state. It came into the union with a unique history that would evolve into a cluttered flag. Charles I of Great Britain granted Maryland\u2019s charter in 1632 and assigned it to Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert). The king\u2019s command… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49,50,53,52,51],"class_list":["post-201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-bottonee","tag-bottony-cross","tag-cecilius-calvert","tag-lord-baltimore","tag-maryland-flag"],"yoast_head":"\nAbout the Maryland Flag's Design | Gettysburg Flag Works<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about Maryland's unique history that shaped its somewhat chaotic and unconventional state flag design.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About the Maryland Flag's Design | Gettysburg Flag Works\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about Maryland's unique history that shaped its somewhat chaotic and unconventional state flag design.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-25T17:50:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-10T02:23:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/maryland_front-300x300.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/\",\"name\":\"About the Maryland Flag's Design | Gettysburg Flag Works\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/maryland_front-300x300.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-25T17:50:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-10T02:23:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"description\":\"Learn about Maryland's unique history that shaped its somewhat chaotic and unconventional state flag design.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/maryland_front.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/maryland_front.jpeg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/marylands-crowded-flag\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Maryland\u2019s crowded flag\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\",\"name\":\"James Breig\",\"description\":\"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. 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