Massachusetts is a constituent state of the United States of America with the official name “Commonwealth of Massachusetts” It stands as one of the original 13 states and one of the 6 New England states. The state boundary extends Vermont and New Hampshire to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and southeast, Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south and New York to the west.
The seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony of 1629 portrays symbols of an Indian and pine trees which are still in continuation in present time. A pine tree was included to the Cross of St. George flag to generate a special flag of local origin to be used in other parts of New England in 1686. After the rejection of English symbols on April 29,1776, a white flag including green pine tree along with motto “Appeal to Heaven” was the naval ensign of Massachusetts.
Nathan Cushing reassured the Indian figure from the seal of 1629 during the design of the coat of arms of Commonwealth Massachusetts in 1780. The appearance was portrayed in gold on a blue shield along with a silver star as gratitude for statehood. The crest with arm and sword along with the Latin motto on the surrounding ribbon i.e.“Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem” which means “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty” extracted from lines written in the 17th century by the English politician Algernon Sidney. Many Massachusetts troops prior to 1908 used the coat of arms on white fields as regimental colors.
The legislature adopted the first nonmilitary state flag on March 18, 1908 with the coat of arms featured on the obverse side and a green pine tree on a blue shield on the reverse side. The reverse side design was eliminated in 1971 from the state flag but the maritime flag came into use.
