Maine State Coat of Arms

In heraldic terms, the shield at the center of the coat of arms is blazoned argent, meaning its background is silver or white. The two figures flanking the shield stand at roughly the same height as it, giving the design a symmetrical, balanced look. A blue background surrounds the full design wherever it appears on the state flag.

The coat of arms is also Maine's state seal. It appears on official state documents, government buildings, and state agency materials across Maine. Before 1919, different engravers produced noticeably different versions of the design. The Legislature standardized it that year to end the variation.

Maine became the twenty-third state on March 15, 1820. The new Legislature needed a state seal quickly, and a committee headed by the first Senate President, William Moody, took up the task. On June 9, 1820, the Legislature formally adopted the coat of arms along with the state seal.

Benjamin Vaughan of Hallowell proposed the emblems to the Legislature. Vaughan was an English-born statesman who had monitored the peace negotiations ending the American Revolution in Paris and later settled in Maine. He described what should appear on the seal: a farmer with a scythe, a sailor with an anchor, a pine tree, and a moose. Vaughan originally preferred a motto referencing the aurora borealis, but the Legislature chose Dirigo instead.

Col. Isaac G. Reed of Waldoboro wrote the official description and explanation of the design. The original sketch is traditionally attributed to Bertha Smouse, Reed's step-daughter, though no surviving documentation confirms the authorship of the drawing with certainty.

Throughout the 1800s, different engravers produced different versions of the seal. The moose appeared more like a deer in some; proportions and poses varied across versions. In 1919, the Legislature ordered that the design should no longer vary, and the standardized form used today was fixed at that point.

Every element on the Maine coat of arms was chosen in 1820 to represent the state's landscape, economy, and role in the new nation.

The coat of arms describes Maine through two kinds of work. The farmer on the left and the sailor on the right are not decorative additions: they were the two economic groups that built the state in 1820. Placing them as equals on either side of the shield gave both groups equal standing in Maine's official identity.

The shield itself shows the natural resources that made those two economies possible. The pine tree supplied timber and ship masts. The moose and the landscape around it represent the forests and wildlife that covered most of Maine's land when the state was founded.

The North Star and the motto Dirigo work together as a statement of purpose. Maine was the northernmost state in 1820. By choosing the North Star as the guiding image, the Legislature said that Maine intended to lead, not follow.

The Maine coat of arms kept its core elements from 1820 onward, but the visual execution changed many times. Different engravers interpreted the moose, the pine tree, and the two figures differently. In some versions, the moose resembled a deer. Proportions and clothing details on the farmer and sailor also varied.

In 1919, the Legislature ruled that the design should no longer vary. The standardized version adopted that year is the one used on all official Maine documents and on the state flag today.