More History of the Flag
After the Revolutionary War, Maryland did not officially have a state flag. However, the Calvert’s family yellow and black colors were flown on banners. Prior to the Civil War, the great seal of the state was flown on blue banners, probably up until the 1890s. Around 1854, the Calvert family’s coat of arms was used on the great seal. After that, the yellow and black colors became popular again.
During the Civil War, the northern and southern parts of the United States split because everyone didn’t agree on slavery. The southern soldiers were called the Confederates. The northern soldiers were called the Union soldiers. But unfortunately for Maryland, we were right in the middle. Several Marylanders wondered which side they would take -- the North or the South. The people who chose the north side didn’t agree with slavery and the people who chose the south side wanted to keep slavery in place. The south side held up the Crossland family’s red and white flag. The north side held up the Calvert family’s gold and black flag. Officially, Maryland remained in the Union.
No one really knows who came up with the Maryland flag we see today. There is a record of such a flag being seen in October 1880. This flag had four alternating quadrants of yellow-and-black Calvert arms and the red-and-white Crossland arms.The Fifth Regiment of the Maryland National Guard adopted a flag in this form as its regimental color in October 1889. That made them the first group to officially use what is the current Maryland flag. Officially, this version was adopted as the state flag in 1904.
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