State Symbols/13

STATE FLAG. Maryland's flag bears the arms of
the Calvert and Crossland families. Calvert was the
family name of the Lords Baltimore who founded
Maryland, and their colors of gold and black
appear in the first and fourth quarters of the flag.
Crossland was the family of the mother of George
Calvert, first Lord Baltimore. The red and white
Crossland colors, with a Greek cross terminating
in the foils, appear in the second and third
quarters. This flag was first flown in its present
form on October 25, 1888, at Gettysburg
Battlefield for ceremonies dedicating monuments
to Maryland regiments of the Army of the
Potomac. It was officially adopted by Chapter 48,
Acts of 1904. Chapter 862, Acts of 1945, requires
that if any ornament is affixed to the top of a
flagstaff carrying the Maryland flag, the ornament
must be a gold cross bottony (Code 1957, Art. 41,
secs. 72-74).

STATE FISH. By Chapter 513, Acts of 1965, the
striped bass or rockfish (Roccus saxatilis) was
designated as the official fish of the State of
Maryland (Code 1957, Art. 41, sec. 71A).

STATE SONG. The nine-stanza poem,
"Maryland, My Maryland," was written by James
Ryder Randall in 1861. A native of Maryland,
Randall was teaching in Louisiana in the early
days of the Civil War, and he was outraged at the
news of Union troops being marched through
Baltimore. The poem articulated Randall's pro-
confederate sympathies. Set to the traditional tune
of "Lauriger Horatius" ("O, Tannenbaum"), the
song achieved wide popularity in Maryland and
throughout the South. "Maryland, My Maryland"
was adopted as the State song in 1939 (Chapter
451, Acts of 1939; Code 1957, Art. 41, sec. 79).