USA > Maryland > Chronicles of colonial Maryland, with illustrations > Part 20
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It was only in relation to Maryland that Lord Baltimore could use either the earl's coronet or the full faced helmet. In England he was only a baron, a much lower order in the scale of nobility, and as such, he could only use the helmet in profile. Above the helmet was a ducal coronet, a crown of gold with eight strawberry or parsley leaves projecting at equal intervals above the rim-a symbol in its application here
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BONA
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LUNTATIS
OBVERSE
REVERSE
GREAT SEAL OF MARYLAND UNDER THE PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT OF THE LORDS BALTIMORE, FROM WATER COLOR SKETCH AFTER THE STAINED GLASS WINDOW BY TIFFANY IN THE NEW COURT OF APPEALS BUILDING, ANNAPOLIS
(TAKEN FROM PASSANO'S HISTORY OF MARYLAND)
CORONASTI
+
FINOZU
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THE GREAT SEAL AND FLAG
of honorary distinction to Maryland and her Proprietor. From this flowed two pennons, one black and one gold. Pennons were small painted flags used in the Medieval period on spears or lances for the purpose of identification, and bearing the owners personal colors. It was from these pennons that the Maryland colors, "or and sable" (gold and black), are sup- posed to have been derived. Behind the escutcheon, coronet and helmet was engraved a scarlet ermine lined mantle, fringed with gold. This mantle, was, presumably, only to furnish an appropriate back ground for the setting, but its colors, crimson, ermine and gold, are historic, in that the head dress of a baron at the time Baltimore was knighted, and also at the date of the Maryland charter, was a crimson velvet cap, turned up, lined with ermine and having a plain gold band, the right of a baron to wear a crown not having been conferred until the reign of Charles II of England.1
On the obverse side was a representation of Baltimore on horseback, with drawn sword, helmet decorated with feathers and in full armour, adorned with his paternal coat of arms, below which was engraved a seashore, grass and flowers, and around the whole an inscription containing his name and titles : Cecilius Absolutus Dominus Terrae Mariae et Avaloniae Baro de Baltimore.2
In the accompanying illustrations of the Great Seal under the Proprietary government, it should be noted, that on the obverse side of the word "Carlos" appears on the marginal circle instead of "Cecilius". Charles Calvert, became, on the death of his father, Cecilius, Baron of Baltimore in 1675, and through him and his grandson Charles, the fifth Lord Balti- more (except from February 20th, to April 5th, 1715, the length of time which Benedict Leonard survived his father) the title to the Province was in a Charles, Lord Baltimore until 1751, when the last of that name died. It was therefore but natural that the Great Seal of the Province should have borne the word Carlos during that period. When the change was
1 Edmonson's Heraldry, vol. 5, p. 198.
5 Archives (Cl. Pro. 1648) pp. 214, 215.
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made, the records do not disclose, but a careful examination of the old Seal now in the Land Office, at An- napolis, clearly shows that it was accomplished by simply substituting on the original Seal the one name for the other. The small illustration BSOLVTYS DO shown here, corresponds exactly with the description which accompanied the Great Seal in 1648, except that it is reduced in size, and represents it as it appeared when used during the administration of Cecilius himself.
This Great Seal passed, with the government, into the hands of Cromwell's commissioners in 1652, where they re- mained until 1657, when the government was restored to the Proprietary. The conditions of surrender provided also for the return of the Great Seal, but the records do not distinctly show that this was done.1 Fearing that the Great Seal may have been lost, Baltimore had a third one made while the negotiations of surrender were pending, but it was to be used only in the event of its predecessor not being recovered.2 As no description accompanied this Seal, and as no impression appears to be extant of the Great Seal between 1648 and 1657, it is impossible to definitely determine which of the two was subsequently used. Bacon however, in his preface to "The Laws of Maryland", published in 1765, says the one of 1648, is the "same which is in use at present", and the fact that the impressions of the Great Seal used after the Baltimore government was re-established, many of which still exist, cor- respond literally with the description which accompanied the Great Seal of 1648, would seem not only to justify the con- clusion reached by Bacon, as also, that the one of 1657 was never used at all, since it was only to be done in the event that the former Seal was not restored.
While the Province was under the jurisdiction of the Crown, the seal known as the "Broad Seal", adopted in 1692,
1 Archives (Cl. Pro. 1657) pp. 333, 340.
2 Ibid, pp. 322, 329.
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and another in 1706, were used,1 and the Baltimore Great Seal was limited in use, during that period, to land grants, Balti- more's territorial rights not having been disturbed. But upon the restoration of the Province in 1715, the old Great Seal again came into use, and continued to be the Great Seal of Maryland until after the revolution.
It has been stated that a new Great Seal was adopted in 1765,2 but no authority for the statement is given, and none has been found. There is no doubt that there were other Seals in the Province, intended and used for different and various purposes, but not as the Great Seal. A wood cut of one, modelled somewhat after the Great Seal, but with the motto "Crescite et multiplicamini", was printed on the title- page of Bacon's "Laws of Maryland"-1765-but Bacon, in the preface to the work, says the Great Seal of the Province then in use, was the old seal of 1648.
There were also in use in the Province, Seals known as Lesser Seals. One of these appears on a copy of the Laws of Maryland between 1642 and 1678. Another, called the Lesser Seal at Arms, of which a representation is here given, was used in connection with the Land Office. There is now in that office, a warrant attested with this seal, to lay out land in Somerset County, for George Gale, and which concludes as follows: "given under his Lordship's Lesser Seal at Arms, this 14th day of May, An. Dom. 1740".
But the most interesting, perhaps, certainly the one less commonly known, of the smaller Seals, is the one which formed a part of the plate used in printing the paper money of the Province. It contained the escutcheon of the Great Seal as well as all of its other heraldic devices, but bore the motto, "Crescite et multiplicamini"-a motto first introduced into Maryland, as far as the records disclose, in 1659, it having appeared on the coin struck for Maryland at that time. The
1Hall, p. 25.
2 Scharf, I, p. 198-Note.
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accompanying impression of this little Seal, it may be interest- ing to note, is not made from a copy of it, as would be necessarily the case with printed impressions of other Seals of the Province, but, through the courtesy of its owner, is here reproduced from the original itself, just as it was blocked and used for stamping its impression on the money of its time. As bearing upon the later history of this valuable relic, see note below.1
When the Revolution" swept away Proprietary rights in Maryland, and the state government was established, it was
1 This interesting relic is now in the possession of Mr. John E. McCuske, of Annapolis. It was found, he informed the author, under the following curious circumstances : by direction of the State Treas- urer, about fifteen years ago, he was having a window placed in the end of the rear wing of the old Treasury Building, at Annapolis, and after cutting through the outer wall, he encountered an inside wall, about three feet distant. In the space between these two brick walls, he found the quaint old iron chest, still preserved in that building, and in it, among other things, was this seal, which was then presented to him by the Treasurer, together with other parts of the plate, the most of them have since unfortunately been lost.
2 THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES.
Shortly after the Declaration of Independence, Congress appointed a committee to prepare a seal for the infant republic; and Franklin, Adams and Jefferson emlpoyed a swiss artist, DuSimitiere, to furnish designs and to illustrate such suggestions as were made by the commit- tee. The artist produced a device consisting of a shield supported on one side by the Goddess of Liberty, and on the other by a rifleman in hunting costume. The shield bore the armorial ensigns of the coun- tries from which America had mainly drawn her population.
Franklin proposed for the device; Moses lifting his wand and divid- ing the Red Sea with the water destroying Pharaoh's host, borrowing the motto from Cromwell, "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
Adams proposed the choice of Hercules; the hero leaning on his club, with Virtue pointing to her rugged mountains on one hand and Sloth trying to persuade him to follow her flowery path on to the other.
Jefferson suggested the Children of Israel in the Wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. On the reverse he
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decided to retain this beautiful relic of Maryland's Colonial days,1 and it continued to be used as the Great Seal of the State until 1794, when a new one was adopted.2 It bore on the one side, a figure of Justice, with the scales in one hand
proposed to place representations of Hengist and Horsa, the Saxons from whom we are descended, and whose political principles are the foundation upon which our government is built.
As a sort of compromise, Franklin and Adams asked Jefferson to combine their ideas in a compact description of the proposed seal, which he did in a paper now in the office of the Secretary of State at Washington.
This composite design is a shield with six quarterings, which dis- play the rose, the thistle and the harp, emblematic of England, Scot- land and Ireland; the lilies of France, the imperial eagle of Germany and the crowned red lion of Holland. This was DuSimitiere's idea.
The shield was bordered with a red ground, displaying thirteen gold stars linked by a chain bearing the initials of the States. The supporters were the Goddess of Liberty in a corselet of armor, in allu- sion to the then state of war, and the Goddess of Justice with sword and balance. The crest was the eye in a radiant triangle, and the motto E Pluribus Unum. Around the whole were the words, "Seal of the United States, MDCCLXXVI;" reverse: Pharaoh passing through the Red Sea in his chariot in pursuit of the Israelites; Moses standing on a shore illumined by rays from a pillar of fire in a cloud. Motto, "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
It seems that no part of Adam's classic allegory was embodied in this device.
The committee reported to the Continental Congress on the tenth of August, 1776, but for some reason the affair was not placed on record. On March 24, 1779, Mr. Lovell of Massachusetts, Mr. Scott of Virginia and Mr. Houston of Georgia were appointed to make another design. Early in May these gentlemen reported in favor of a seal four inches in diameter ; a shield with thirteen diagonal red and white stripes with, for supporters, Peace with an olive branch and a warrior with a drawn sword. Motto: Bello vel pace,-For war or peace. The reverse side was to represent Liberty seated in a chair holding cap and staff. Motto, Semper-Forever; and underneath, the date.
The report was submitted and resubmitted with slight modifications, but was not accepted; and so the matter rested until April, 1782, when Middleton, Boudinot and Rutledge were appointed a third committee to prepare a seal. But their work seems to have resulted in a failure to
1 C1. Pro. 1777, 1779.
2 Cl. Pro. 1794, 1799.
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and an olive branch in the other. The figure was surmounted by rays of light, and at its feet lay the fasces, with the cap of. Liberty, and crossed olive branches. The inscription was simply "Great Seal of Maryland". On the opposite side was a tobacco hogshead, with bundles of leaf tobacco lying on top, two sheaves of wheat standing by the side and the cornu- copia of plenty lying in front. In the background was a ship approaching the shore, and surrounding all, the motto: "In- dustry the means and plenty the result".1
In 1817, this seal was superseded by one fashioned after the Great Seal of the United States, containing only an eagle, a semicircle of thirteen stars, and the words, "Great Seal of Maryland" .? This seal, in 1854, was ordered to be changed for one showing the original arms of the State, and containing the motto, "Crescite et Multiplicamini", and the inscription, "1632. The Great Seal of Maryland. 1854", but in making this seal, the eagle was retained in place of the coronet and other emblems.3
In 1874, it was decided to discard this, and to restore the ancient seal, the arms of which were to conform to the arms of Lord Baltimore, as represented in Bacon's Laws of Maryland (1765). Investigation, however, proved that Bacon's repre- sentation of the Baltimore arms did not correspond with that given by Lord Baltimore himself in his commission to Gover- nor Stone, which accompanied the Great Seal, in 1648. This resulted in the adoption, in 1876, of the present Great Seal of Maryland,4 which is designed after the original, and bearing
satisfy Congress, and on June thirteenth of the same year, the whole matter was finally referred by that body to Charles Thomson, its secretary.
He procured several devices, among them an elaborate one by William Barton of Philadelphia, but none of them met with congress- ional approval until John Adams, then in London, sent him a design suggested by Sir John Prestwich, an Englishman who was a warm friend of America and an accomplished antiquarian.
It consisted of an escutcheon bearing thirteen stripes, white and
1 Hall, p. 31. 2 Cl. Pro. 1813, 1817.
3 Hall, p. 35.
4 Ibid, p. 37.
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the same arms, emblems, motto, and inscriptions; and thus Maryland to-day enjoys the distinction of having this historic seal, emblematic alike of the "nature of her foundation and the lineage of her founder" as the symbol of her honor, and as the signet by which her official acts are authenticated and accredited.
In executing the order for the present Great Seal, the date of the Maryland charter-1632-which did not appear on the old seal, was inserted at the base of the marginal circle. The pennons, or bannerets, were also changed, being made to flow towards the dexter (right), instead of the sinister (left) side, as they appeared on the old seal. The latter change, unauthorized by the resolution, and of doubtful propriety, was made, presumably, in order that the seal would conform in that respect, to the Baltimore family arms, on which they are represented as flowing toward the dexter side, which latter may have been the result either of an error of the engraver, or Baltimore's fancy, as, in heraldry, they are most universally represented as flying toward the left side, as if being carried toward the right.1
The obverse of the old seal was not included in the order
red on a blue field, displayed on the breast of an eagle holding in his right talon an olive branch, and in his left a bundle of thirteen arrows; in his beak a scroll inscribed, E. Pluribus Unum. For a crest it had over the head of the eagle a golden glory breaking through a cloud, surrounding thirteen white stars on a blue field. Reverse: An unfin- ished pyramid; in the zenith, an eye in a triangle; over the eye the words: Annuit caeptis-God favors the undertaking. On the base of the pyramid are the Roman numerals MDCCLXXVI, and underneath the motto, Novus ordo seclorum-which may be translated freely, A new era.
This design was accepted, and thus, after six years of fruitless effort on the part of our own countrymen, we became indebted for our national arms to a titled aristocrat of the kingdom with which we were then at war. Francis Zuri Stone-"The Companion."
1 In 1884, while searching for historic relics in the vault of the old Treasury Building, at Annapolis, the old seal, of 1648, was found, as well as one of the lesser seals and the Great Seal, adopted in 1694, all of which are now preserved in the Land Office, at Annapolis.
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adopting the present Great Seal. The representations upon that side were wholly personal to Baltimore, apart from the fact that it possesses no practical value under the existing method of using the Great Seal, the old pendant seal of wax, and im- pressed on both sides having been superseded by the impres- sion of the seal being made on the document itself.
The Maryland flag, like the Great Seal, is unique, in that it is strictly of heraldic design. It is composed of the armorial bearings and colors of the Calvert and Crossland arms, quar- tered as displayed on the escutcheon of the Great Seal.1
It has been stated, and is generally believed, that no design was ever formally adopted for the official flag of Mary- land, and that it was simply accepted by common consent. This would appear to be true as to the State, until adopted by Act of 1904, Chapter 48, but not so with respect to the Propri- etary government. The Maryland flag, like the Great Seal, was evidently designed and adopted by Cecilius, Lord Balti- more, and sent out by him with the colony, as it was unfurled and officially used a few days only after taking formal posses- sion of the Province, when Governor Calvert, to more forcibly impress the natives, ordered the "colors to be brought on shore", and a military parade.2
In honor of Sir John Harvey, Governor of Virginia, who visited Governor Calvert shortly after his arrival, the flag was also used. On that occasion, says the Relation, of 1634, "Wee
1 For a minute description of these see pages 224-225.
2 British Empire in America, I, p. 184. Bozman, pp. 525, 697. ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE STARS AND STRIPES.
In 1775, Congress appointed a committee of three gentlemen-Benj. Franklin and Messrs. Harrison and Lynch-to consider and devise a national flag. The result was the adoption of the "King's Colors" as a union (or corner square), combined with thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, showing "that although the colonies united for defense against England's tyranny, they still acknowledged her sovereignty."
The first public acceptance, recognition, and salute of this flag oc- curred January 2, 1776, at Washington's headquarters, Cambridge, Mass. It was named "The Flag of the Union," and sometimes called the "Cambridge Flag."
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kept the solemnity of carrying our colours on shore". The next recorded instance in which the Maryland flag was used, was in 1638, when Governor Calvert made his expedition to Kent Island for the purpose of reducing the Claiborne forces to subjection, when he and his followers, as he reported to Baltimore, marched "with your ensign displayed", Robert Clarke being the colour bearer. In the famous battle also upon the Severn, in 1655, between the Parliamentary Party and the Baltimore forces, the former set up the standard of the Com- monwealth of England, while the latter marched "with Lord Baltimore's colours displayed", or as expressed by Heamans, master of the ship Golden Lyon, then in the harbor, and who took part in the battle, Baltimore's forces marched "with drums beating and colours flying, the colors being black and yellow, appointed by the Lord Proprietary".1
While there does not seem to be any distinct record of the design of the colonial flag of Maryland, it is believed to have been the same as the one now in use. Maryland as a state, did not at first formally adopt an official flag, but by common consent continued to use the one designed for the Provincial Government, just as it did the old great seal of Maryland. The latter was adopted by the Governor and Council, who, under the first constitution of the state, were invested with the power to make the great seal, but this power did not extend to the flag. The legislative department of the new govern- ment had the unquestioned right to adopt a standard for the state, but it did not exercise that right. It, therefore, must have been done by common consent and by the continuous use of the flag which had always been the standard of Mary- land. It is true in July 1754, Governor Horatio Sharpe of Mary-
In the spring of 1777 Congress appointed another committee, "au- thorized to design a suitable flag for the nation." This committee con- sisted of General George Washington and Robert Morris. They called upon Mrs. Elizabeth Ross, who was a dressmaker, milliner, and uphol- stress, and who had the reputation of being the finest needle worker in America, and from the pencil drawing made by General Washington, engaged her to make a flag.
1 Heamans Narrative, Bosman, 697.
-
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land was commissioned by the King of England as commander of the Maryland and other forces to be engaged in the French and English war, and that, in August of that year, he and the council ordered a large quantity of powder and flints, and a "black and yellow flag 24 feet long and 16 feet broad, with the union in one corner". This flag was most likely intended for use in the military expedition to be undertaken in the interests of the cross of Saint George and Saint Andrew, which constituted the Union Jack after the union of England and Scotland. It most probably, too, was never used, as Maryland refused to send her troops to a war which did not concern the state or its people, and which only meant a struggle be- tween England and France for mastery over the great Mis- sissippi valley.
Maryland was not a royal, but was a proprietary colony, and it is highly improbable that Baltimore would have used on his Maryland standard the Union Jack of Great Britain, instead of his own official arms. This is still more apparent, when the fact is considered, that he took such painstaking care to work out for the coat of arms of the province a de- sign which was distinctively applicable to Maryland, display- ing the arms of its founder and the nature and scope of its charter; and it would have been most natural for him, in designing an official standard for the province, to have also adopted the escutcheon of his arms, as he certainly did its colors.
Had the flag contained a Union Jack, or any other dis- tinctive emblem, it would assuredly not have escaped the ob- servant Heamans, who described it so minutely when waving at the battle of the Severn.
It is stated that a Maryland flag was borne by the Mary- land volunteer troops that accompanied Braddock, in 1756, in his expedition against Fort Duquesne, and also that one was
This flag was the first legally established emblem, and was adopted by Congress, June 14, 1777, under the following act :
"Resolved, That the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
"TAKEN FROM THOMAS' CHRONICLES OF MARYLAND"
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carried throughout the entire civil war by the Frederick volun- teers, which became part of the First Maryland Regiment, Con- federate States of America.1
Apart from its historic interest, the Maryland flag, as may be seen from the accompanying illustration, possesses marked symmetry and beauty. The parallel and diagonal lines of the Calvert quarterings being in singular harmony with the crosses and transposed colors of those of the Crossland arms. The combination, too, of the colors of the former-gold and black -while in brilliant contrast with those of the latter quarter- ings-silver and red-is both effective and pleasing.
The first American flag was first unfurled by Captain John Paul Jones, on the Ranger, when it became the standard of the new American Republic.
In May, 1777, Congress made an order on the Treasurer to pay Mrs. Ross, £14, 12s, 2d, for flags for the fleet in the Delaware River, and gave her a contract to make all government flags .- Historical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1893.
The first American flag unfurled in Maryland, was the one sent from Philadelphia, November, 1776, by Commodore Hopkins to Com- modore Joshua Barney, for use on the Hornet. "The next morning at sunrise, Barney had the enviable honor of unfurling it to the music of drums and fifes, and hoisting it on a staff, planted with his own hands, at the door of his rendezvous. The heart-stirring sounds of the musical instrument, then a novel incident in Baltimore, and the still more novel sight of the rebel colors gracefully waving in the breeze, attracted crowds of all ranks and sizes to the gay scene of the rendezvous, and before the setting of the same day's sun, the young recruiting officer had enlisted a full crew of jolly rebels for the Hornet."-Memoirs of Com- modore Barney, p. 30.
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