Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore - Fall 2006

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore - Fall 2006 Banner Photo

 The second Design Award of 2006 is awarded to The Archdiocese of Baltimore. The arms are described by heraldist William F.J. Ryan as follows:

The field is quartered in blue and silver, the Marian colors, in honor of Our Lady as the titular of the Cathedral church, the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

On this field a quartered red and silver cross from the second and third (Crossland) quarters of Lord Baltimore's coat of arms is emblazoned. This cross is a reminder that Maryland was the first colony in the New World where religious toleration was established. Planned by George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, a Catholic convert, it was founded by his son, Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, and named for a Catholic queen, Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England.

The star in the upper left of the archdiocesan arms is also symbolic of the Blessed Virgin, patroness of the United States under her title of the Immaculate Conception. The Litany of Loreto beseeches our Lady as "Star of the Sea" and "Morning Star."