States101 
Maryland
State Flag
The Maryland flag was formally adopted on November 25, 1904. Since, Maryland has maintained the same flag for the last 120 years.
The Maryland flag was voted 3rd best out of 51 Flags ranked by the North American Vexillological Association.
The 4 main colors in the Maryland flag are #000000, #EAAB00, #981E32, and #FFFFFF. The Maryland flag width is 1.5 times the height. Standard flag size is 3 feet x 4.5 feet.
We also provide high resolution and Scalar Vector Graph (SVG) downloadable images — free of charge. Go to Flag Downloads.
Buy Your Maryland State Flag Now!Maryland Flag
Colors
| #000000 | 24.8% |
| #EAAB00 | 24.7% |
| #981E32 | 24.4% |
| #FFFFFF | 24.4% |
Description
The Maryland state flag is the most distinctive and eye catching U.S. state flag. The flag’s bright gold and black diagonal checkered pattern in the top left and bottom right quadrants draw your attention and contrast starkly with the bold red and black cross pattern in the bottom left and top right quadrants.
Meaning
The flag is a combination of the family crests of the two families who founded Maryland – the Calvert and the Crossland families. The checkered pattern belongs to the Calvert family and the red and black cross design belongs to the Crossland family.
The bold and unique Maryland flag draws both criticism and acclaim. Many (non-Marylanders) dislike the flag. However, the North American Vexillological Association has named the Maryland flag the 4th best flag out of 72 flags considered – just ahead of the Alaska state flag and only slightly behind Quebec’s flag.
Maryland’s flag is one of the only U.S. flags that does not contain the color blue.
History
In 1634, Maryland was founded as a British colony by Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. The bright gold and black design on the Maryland flag comes from the Calvert family crest. At first, only the gold and black design was associated with Maryland. The red and black design in the Maryland flag only gained popularity during the American Civil War. While Maryland officially fought with the Union during the Civil war, many Marylanders supported and fought with the confederacy. The Crossland family crest was adopted as a symbol by those Marylanders who supported the confederacy and fought with the Army of Northern Virginia which was led by General Robert E. Lee.
After the war, Marylanders had to reconcile with those who had fought on the opposite side of the war. Around 1865 the flag incorporated both crests. At first, the Crossland Banner appeared in the upper left quadrant but this was swapped because of the Union’s victory. The Maryland flag as it appears today is documented to have flown as early and 1880 and was officially adopted as the state flag in 1904
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Download Maryland State Flag
Download Maryland State Flag as a high quality SVG file. Scaler Vector Images (SVGs) look good at any size. This flag can be used as tiny icons (height less than 50px) or you can make the flag huge (height over 2000px) and still look great!
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We also provide a large black and white Maryland Flag Line Drawings for download. This coloring-book style image are perfect for student activities.
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