The Maryland State Flag

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 Crosslands.

When the General Assembly 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.

For printers: The red and yellow colors in the Maryland flag should conform to the following Pantone Marking System colors:

  • red on coated stock-PMS 201
  • red on uncoated stock-PMS 193
  • yellow on coated stock-PMS 124
  • yellow on uncoated stock-PMS 124
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The State of Maryland pledges to provide constituents, businesses, customers, and stakeholders with friendly and courteous, timely and responsive, accurate and consistent, accessible and convenient, and truthful and transparent services.

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Help Stop Fraud in State Government

The Maryland General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Audits operates a toll-free fraud hotline to receive allegations of fraud and/or abuse of State government resources. Information reported to the hotline in the past has helped to eliminate certain fraudulent activities and protect State resources.

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