State Coats of Arms

Maryland's coat of arms is quartered, alternating between the Calvert arms (gold and black diagonal stripes) and the Crossland arms (red and white crossbottony crosses). These are the genuine medieval heraldic arms of the Calvert family, who founded Maryland in 1632. They derive from a real English heraldic grant, not from a design committee. The arms were formally codified in Maryland law in 1876, but the imagery had been in use since the colonial era. No other U.S. state has coat of arms imagery with a direct, unbroken line to a real European armorial grant.

Alabama's 1939 coat of arms is quartered to record every national government that held sovereignty over the territory. The four quarters show the arms of France (blue with gold fleurs-de-lis), Spain (the castle and lion of Castile and León), Britain (the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick), and the United States (the national arms). A fifth section in the center, the Confederate battle flag, marks the period of secession. Two bald eagles serve as supporters. The composition is a deliberate historical inventory in heraldic form.

New Jersey's coat of arms, adopted September 10, 1776, less than three months after the Declaration of Independence, is one of the most formally complete in the country. The shield bears three ploughs. Liberty and Ceres (goddess of agriculture) serve as supporters. A horse's head forms the crest above. The motto 'Liberty and Prosperity' appears on the scroll below with the date 1776. It follows the full European armorial formula and was designed in the first months of American independence.

North Dakota's coat of arms, adopted in 1957, stands apart from most state arms in its directness. The shield shows an Indian arrowhead in gold with a green bend bearing three gold stars. Above, an arrowhead crest with a bow. The motto, 'Strength from the Soil', is in plain English rather than Latin, naming the state's agricultural foundation directly. It was adopted 68 years after statehood, when most states had long since codified their symbols. The simplicity is deliberate.

Pennsylvania's coat of arms, formally adopted in 1875, is one of the most complete heraldic achievements among U.S. states. The shield is divided into three sections: a ship at sea (commerce), a plow (agriculture), and three sheaves of wheat (the land's productivity). Two horses serve as supporters. An eagle forms the crest. The motto 'Virtue, Liberty, and Independence' appears below. The two horse supporters are unusual in U.S. state heraldry, which more often uses human figures or regional animals.

Virginia's coat of arms dates to 1776, the first year of the Revolution, and was re-adopted formally in 1976. The shield shows Virtus, the Roman goddess of virtue, standing with spear and sword over a fallen king whose crown has rolled away on the ground. The motto 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' (Thus always to tyrants) identifies the scene directly. It was not designed as allegory; it was designed as a statement of intent in the first weeks of armed rebellion against the British Crown.