Flag of Maine

How to read it

The flag law, 1 MRSA § 206, makes the official flag blue, “of the same color as the blue field in the flag of the United States”, 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) on the fly and 1.32 m (4 ft 4 in) on the staff, with the coat of arms embroidered in silk in the centre on both sides and the edges trimmed with knotted yellow silk fringe 6.4 cm (2½ in) wide. A model flag is kept in the office of the Adjutant General. The seal, § 201, is a silver shield charged with a white pine and a moose lying at its foot; a farmer resting on a scythe and a sailor resting on an anchor hold it up; MAINE is written beneath, and the North Star is the crest, with DIRIGO on a label between the shield and the star. The law translates the motto “I direct or I guide” (§ 205). The Legislature adopted the seal’s description on June 9, 1820 and fixed its present design in 1919, the Secretary of State says. The motto is also Maine’s state motto. A second flag, the merchant and marine flag (§ 207), is white, with “Dirigo” in blue above a green pine tree whose trunk is entwined with a blue anchor, and “Maine” beneath.

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The pine tree flag and the 2024 vote

Maine’s flag from 1901 to 1909 had a pine tree. A 2023 law put a return to it before voters as Question 5 in November 2024, and the Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, chose the model design in a contest. Adam Lemire of Gardiner won from more than 400 entries with a pine tree on a buff field beside a blue star, close to the 1901 flag. Voters rejected the change, 55 per cent to 45 per cent in the Associated Press count reported by Maine Public, so the blue flag with the coat of arms is still the official flag.

Telling it from Vermont’s flag

Both are blue with a pine tree in the arms. On Vermont’s flag the pine stands in a landscape with a red cow and three sheaves of wheat, under a buck’s head, and there are no people. Maine’s shield has a moose lying under the pine, a farmer and a seaman stand either side of it, and the North Star is above.

Telling it from New Hampshire’s flag

Both are blue. New Hampshire’s flag has a round seal of a ship being built, inside a wreath of laurel and nine stars, with no people in it. Maine’s has a shield with two standing figures and a star above.