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Anne Arundel County, Maryland (U.S.)

image by Rick Wyatt, 3 March 1998

Description of the Flag
Heraldic Description
Mystery of the Floretty Crosses
Previous Version Used
Former Flag
County seal
South County

- indicates flag is known.
- indicates it is reported that there is no known flag.

Municipal flags in Anne Arundel County:

See also:

Description of the flag

The Anne Arundel County flag is the Anne Arundel County Seal on a white background.

The basic form of the Anne Arundel County Seal dates back to at least 1762 and possibly can be traced as far back as 1661. The colors of the heraldry are the standard gold and black for the Calvert Arms, red and silver for the Crossland Arms, red for the roses in the brackets beneath the shield and gold for the circlet at the top of the shield and thorns beneath the shield.
Rick Wyatt, 3 March 1998

Heraldic Description

The shield in the quarter of the Anne Arundel County Seal is the quartered Calvert-Crossland Arms. In the Calvert Arms, the six "pales" or perpendicular stripes are alternately gold and black ("or" and "sable"), transversed diagonally, from dexter chief to sinister base, by a bend ("bande"). This bend is counterchanged, where it crosses a gold pale, it is black; where it crosses a black pale, it is gold. The Crossland Arms are "argent" and "gules". Argent, meaning silver, is frequently represented as white, although, strictly speaking, white as a color does not exist in English heraldry. Gules means red. Thus, the Crossland quarters would be red and silver or red and white. The circlet at the top of the Seal might be silver or gold. Since it is much simpler than the crown on the Great Seal of Maryland, the red, indicating plush there, should be eliminated. The two brackets beneath the shield could be silver or gold. The rose contained in each should be red; the thorns, silver or gold.
Rick Wyatt, 3 March 1998

Mystery of the Floretty Crosses

One mystery remains. Why are the crosses floretty instead of botonee, as in the Maryland state flag?

Bob Barnes wrote in the Newsletter of the Maryland State Archives on May 27, 1997:

"... when the seal is currently displayed (1997), an example of heraldic differencing has taken place ... the cross in the Crossland arms has become a cross floretty (its four arms ending in fleurs-de-lis). Just as younger sons sometimes made a slight difference in their paternal arms, so the Anne Arundel County seal depicts a slightly differenced version of the Calvert arms..."

Rick Wyatt, 3 March 1998

Previous Version of the Flag

by Rick Wyatt, 3 March 1998
1997-1998

Prior to 1997, there were several versions of the Anne Arundel County flag in existence with minor variations. It was documented that the Anne Arundel County flag is the Anne Arundel County Seal on a white background. It was determined that the seal includes the words, so flags were manufactured for the county with the words encircling the emblem. After the 1998 election, someone who had prior service with the county found documentation specifying that only the center emblem of the seal should be on the flag.
Rick Wyatt

Former Flag

image located by Vanja Poposki, 20 January 2013
Source: Baltimore Sun

On reverse of the photograph is the date May 23 1968, and a newspaper clipping stating:

Anne Arundel's Flag?
Historically correct, just like the county council ordered, this proposed official county flag has been struck down for the time being by Joseph W. Alton, Jr., county executive. He feels there has been "too much buffoonery" over his request that a county flag fly from the courthouse on flag day, June 14. The design is a pure white field with a badge bearing the black and gold Calvert coat of arms and the red and silver Crossland coat of arms, the official Anne Arundel county seat.

Vanja Poposki, 20 January 2013

County seal

image located by Paul Bassinson, 8 July 2018

Image obtained from www.aacounty.org
Paul Bassinson, 8 July 2018