Flag of Maine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maine


Use	Civil and state flag
Adopted	June 16, 1909

The flag flying near Freeport, Maine

The flag of the state of Maine features the state coat of arms on a blue field. In the center of the shield, a moose rests under a tall pine tree. A farmer and seaman represent the traditional reliance on agriculture and the sea by the state. The North Star represents the state motto: Dirigo ("I Lead").

There are no official colors for the coat of arms, so variations in coloration can be seen in flags from different manufacturers. The blue field, however, is specified to be the same blue as in the flag of the United States. According to the official description, the flag should have a fringe of yellow silk and should have a blue and white silk cord attached at the spearhead. These embellishments are very rarely observed.

The North American Vexillological Association conducted a survey in 2001 that ranked Maine's current flag as one of the worst in design. Amongst the 72 U.S. state, U.S. territorial and Canadian provincial flags, Maine's flag ranked 60th (13th worst).^[1] NAVA criticized the unoriginality of "[state] seal on blue bed-sheet" design, which is currently used by almost half of the flags of U.S. states.

Original Flag

Digital reproduction of the 1901 flag

Originally, the state flag consisted of a green pine tree, symbol of New England in the center, with a blue "North Star", all on a buff-colored background.^[2] The image to the right contains a digital reproduction of the 1901 Flag. The reproduction uses the same pine tree used in the Merchant Marine Flag of Maine. Also, the size of the tree, set to 1/3 the fly and 2/3 the hoist, is guesswork.

“

The State Flag is hereby declared to be buff charged with the emblem of the State, a pine tree proper in the center and the polar star (a mullet of five points), in blue in the upper corner. The star to be equidistant from the hoist and upper border of the flag, the distance from the two borders to the center of the star equal to about one quarter the hoist. This distance and the size of the star being proportionate to the size of the flag.

”

The Maine legislature approved the current flag on February 23, 1909.

Ensign

Merchant and Marine Flag of Maine

Maine is also one of only two states with a separate ensign, which is rarely seen (the other is Massachusetts). It features symbols from the current flag and the older one, with a white field and green pine tree. The green pine tree has the seaman's anchor, and the words "MAINE" and "DIRIGO" around it.

Flag of the 20th Maine

Flag of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The flag used by the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War.

References

↑ Kaye, Ted (June 10, 2001). "New Mexico Tops State/Provincial Flags Survey, Georgia Loses By Wide Margin". North American Vexillological Association. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
↑ "Maine Flags Prior To 1909 (U.S.)". Flags of the World. Retrieved February 10, 2008.

External links

v t e Flags of the U.S. states, federal district, and insular areas

States	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Federal district	Washington, D.C.

Insular areas	American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands

Book Category Portal

v t e State of Maine

Augusta (capital)

Topics	Index Geography Government Governors History Islands Images People Visitor attractions Congressional districts

Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Party strength

Regions	Down East Highlands Kennebec Valley Lake Country Mid Coast North Woods Penobscot Bay Southern Coast Western Mountains

Counties	Androscoggin Aroostook Cumberland Franklin Hancock Kennebec Knox Lincoln Oxford Penobscot Piscataquis Sagadahoc Somerset Waldo Washington York

Cities	Auburn Augusta Bangor Bath Belfast Biddeford Brewer Calais Caribou Eastport Ellsworth Gardiner Hallowell Lewiston Old Town Portland Presque Isle Rockland Saco Sanford South Portland Waterville Westbrook

Largest towns	Bridgton Brunswick Cape Elizabeth Falmouth Gorham Kennebunk Kittery Lisbon Old Orchard Beach Orono Sanford Scarborough Skowhegan Standish Topsham Wells Windham Winslow York

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.