Maryland state symbols

How to read it

The black-eyed Susan came first, named the “Floral Emblem” of Maryland in 1918. The white oak followed in 1941 and the Baltimore oriole in 1947. The Maryland State Archives traces the bird’s name to its colours: the male’s black and golden orange are close to the colours of the Calvert shield, the coat of arms of Lord Baltimore, the colony’s proprietor. The motto is in Italian, on a ribbon at the feet of the plowman and fisherman on the reverse of the Great Seal, the side used officially.

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Maryland’s symbols and when each was adopted

The two inscriptions on the seal

The Great Seal’s reverse carries two lines of text. The Italian motto “Fatti maschii parole femine” is on the ribbon; the law translates it as “Strong deeds, gentle words”. Around the edge is the Latin “Scuto bonae voluntatis tuae coronasti nos”, which the law translates as “With favor wilt thou compass us as with a shield” (Psalm 5:12).

The oriole and the ball club

Baltimore’s major league baseball team took the bird’s name in 1894, the Maryland State Archives notes, more than 50 years before the oriole became the state bird.