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Caroline County, Maryland (U.S.)

by Pascal Gross, 13 November 2001

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From County website :

The original Caroline County Seal, discovered in the State Archives in Annapolis, was not strictly a coat of arms, but a seal used on county legal documents by the Clerk of Court in Denton from at least 1814 to 1856.

The Seal is oval in shape and features parts of the Calvert coat of arms assigned to George Calvert of Yorkshire, England, on November 30, 1622. George's son, Cecil, was granted the charter to Maryland in June 1632, and the family coat of arms thus became closely associated with the Province of Maryland.

The belt around the Caroline County Seal is a recent adornment added by the Annapolis genealogist and heraldic researcher, who in 1953, at the suggestion of State Senator Louis N. Phipps, Anne Arundel County, gave Caroline Historical Society the present oval Seal with an explanation of the meaning of its several parts.

The scroll and motto in Latin means "Land of Pleasant Living, indicative of Caroline County's welcome to all, as established in planter's homes and manor houses. The "Land of Pleasant Living" was developed by the late Arthur Deute, who adopted Baltimore City in 1935, when he bought the National Brewing Company. Mr. Deute found Captain John Smith's description of his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay in 1608 most attractive. Some historians have indicated that Captain Smith sailed up the great Choptank River as far as Choptank Towne, the southernmost point in Caroline County, earlier a part of Dorchester County.

The meaning of the bars in the shield quoted from the Hall: "The six vertical pieces (or pales) , into which the Calvert Shield is divided would represent palings for palisades, and constitute the heraldic symbol of a stockade or fortification, which would be appropriate to one who had fortified a town or successfully stormed a hostile fort. The diagonal band, or bend, was held to represent either a swordbelt or a sealing ladder." The crown immediately above the shield is and earl's coronet. The Lords of Baltimore could use the earl's coronet only in the relation to their American colony, which according to the charter had the rank of a county palatine. The rank of county palatine is equivalent to that of an earl. The full-face position of the helmet above the earl's coronet indicates the exercise of government by an absolute ruler over a free state or country. Above the helmet is a ducal coronet from which rises two spears or lances with pennons attached. The pennons display the Calvert colors, gold and black.

The present seal and flag of Caroline County were officially adopted by the Caroline County Commissioners on July 3, 1984. The flag was harnessed by Commissioners Charles T. Dean, Sr., and raised on the East Courthouse Green flagpole by Commissioner John S. Legates during the Caroline celebration of Maryland's 350th Birth Year. The flag is composed of a county seal on a medium green background, representing Caroline's heritage and future agriculture.

submitted by Phil Nelson, 13 November 2001

Modified Colors

by Robert Clendaniel

The flag on this page is the old version of the Caroline County flag. The new version has changed the seal colors. The new seal can be seen on the page at http://www.carolinemd.org/governmt/ccseal/ccseal.html.
Robert Clendaniel, 4 May 2004