Maine State
Flag
Adopted in 1909.
On March 21, 1901 the Maine State Legislature passed "An Act to Establish a State Flag." The flag was to include a Pine Tree centered on a buff colored field. Equidistant from the hoist and upper border of the flag a blue polar star was to be displayed. However, the state flag of Maine was adopted by the Legislature of 1909, describing the state flag as a display of the Maine coat of arms on a blue field. This is the flag in use today, more or less..
The picture on Maine's blue flag is the state coat of arms, which is used on the state seal. Representing Maine's agricultural and maritime industries are a farmer on one side of the shield and a seaman on the other. The lower portion of the shield is a of water, and the upper section sky. A huge pine tree stands for Maine's forests that cover 90 percent of its land. Below the tree lies a moose, now the state animal, indigenous to the state and symbolic of Maine's reverence for wildlife. A North Star glows above the shield, as Maine was the northernmost state at the time of its adoption into the Union.
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 Maine State Flag as defined by law does not exist. There are no examples of the flag that correspond to the written description of it found in the Maine Statutes.
The Maine State Flag
Original Flag of Maine 1901
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.
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.
Ensign
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.
Maine Flag Laws
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, Chapter 9.
Title 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS
Chapter 9: SEAL, MOTTO, EMBLEMS AND FLAGS
Subchapter 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS
§206. State flag
The flag to be known as the official flag of the State shall be of blue, of the same color
as the blue field in the flag of the United States, and of the following dimensions and designs;
to wit, the length or height of the staff to be 9 feet, including brass spearhead and ferrule;
the fly of said flag to be 5 feet 6 inches, and to be 4 feet 4 inches on the staff; in the
center of the flag there shall be embroidered in silk on both sides of the flag the coat of
arms of the State, in proportionate size; the edges to be trimmed with knotted fringe of yellow
silk, 2 1/2 inches wide; a cord, with tassels, to be attached to the staff at the spearhead,
to be 8 feet 6 inches long and composed of white and blue silk strands. A flag made in accordance
with the description given in this section shall be kept in the office of the Adjutant General
as a model.
The Flags of the US.
