Since we're heading into the long 4th of July Weekend, I thought why not follow up our Flag Day Edition of This Week In Vexillology with just one state in honor of our nation's birthday on the 4th of July. Now, before people start saying I have anything against Old Glory: I don't. I'm just going to assume that you, the reader, know what our flag stands for and don't need me to explain it to you! (If you don't know, for some weird, weird reason please turn in your passport and head north or south to the nearest international border because, well, there's not a lot of hope for you.)
This year, Maryland gets the top spot. I like the flag of Maryland. It's got one of the coolest flag of any state in the union and it's unique because it's the only flag to be taken from English Heraldry. Yes, the flag of Maryland (which inspired such derision when these uniforms made an appearance at the University of Maryland) is the heraldic banner of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore.
The black and gold on the flag is from the coat of arms of the Calvert family, while the red and white cross is from the coat of arms of his mother. Since his mother was an heiress under what I'm sure are the massively complicated rules of English heraldry he was allowed to use both coats of arms in the banner. (The technical term for the red and white design is a cross bottany, by the way.)
The infamous NAVA survey which was so down on our trio of state flags for Flag Day? They ranked Maryland 4th best in design quality out of 72 states and Canadian provinces.
I hope everyone had an amazing 4th of July with friends and family- and remember, until next time- keep your flags flying. FREAK- or otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment