Great Seal of Maryland

The central figure of the obverse is Lord Baltimore, the title held by the Calvert family proprietors of Maryland, depicted in full plate armor astride a horse. He carries a lance and bears a shield displaying the Calvert arms: diagonal bands of black and gold, the pattern known in heraldry as "paly of six, or and sable, a bend counterchanged." The equestrian portrait was a standard format for depicting a sovereign or proprietor in European heraldry.

Circling the border of the obverse is "SCUTO BONAE VOLUNTATIS TUAE CORONASTI NOS," a phrase from Psalm 5:12 in the Latin Vulgate Bible. The English translation is "With the shield of thy good will thou hast covered us." This was the Calvert family's chosen personal motto, carried on their heraldry for generations before Maryland was founded.

The shield at the center of the reverse is quartered into four sections. Two quarters display the Calvert arms: diagonal bands alternating black and gold. Two quarters display the Crossland arms: a red field charged with a white cross with flared ends, known in heraldry as a cross bottony. The Crossland arms came from the maternal side of the Calvert family line.

A farmer holding a spade and a fisherman holding a fish flank the quartered shield on the reverse. Both figures represent the productive economy of Maryland as its founders understood it: agriculture on the land and fishing in the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic waters.

An eagle appears above the quartered shield on the reverse of the seal. In heraldic terms, a bird or other figure placed above a shield as part of a full achievement is called a crest. The eagle in this position is consistent with the heraldic conventions used for English aristocratic arms in the 17th century.

"FATTI MASCHII PAROLE FEMINE" appears on a ribbon at the base of the reverse composition. The phrase is Italian, traditionally translated as "Manly deeds, womanly words." It was the Calvert family's second motto, distinct from the Latin motto on the obverse. The use of Italian for a family motto was not unusual among English aristocratic families of the Tudor and Stuart periods.