EDITORIAL: In Howard County, a big flap over what's tied to the flagpole | STAFF COMMENTARY

Feb. 7—By Baltimore Sun Editorial Board

PUBLISHED:February 7, 2024 at 9:31 a.m.| UPDATED:February 7, 2024 at 7:29 p.m.

Quick, describe your local flag.

Can't do it, can you?

Oh, Marylanders certainly know their state flag. Like it or not, that flag, with its centuries-old gold-and-black and red-and-white heraldic banners from the Calvert and Crossland families (first combined into a unified coat of arms by Cecil Calvert in the 17th century) stands out in a crowd. None of those difficult-to-tell-apart flags featuring nondescript state seals or local animals (crab silhouette?) floating in a sea of white for the Old Line State. Maryland went historic and bold, and that's probably why its flag shows up in prominent places, like the uniforms of University of Maryland sports teams, and was ranked a top five flag by the North American Vexillological Association. (Who knew? A person who studies flags is a vexillologist.)

County and city flags are something else. You can grow up in Baltimore without ever realizing that Charm City's flag features a familiar detail from the Lord Baltimore banner with a rendering of the Washington Monument on Charles Street superimposed in the center. Baltimore County's flag has that black-and-gold field (again) in two corners with a plow in the third and a "wheel of industry" in the fourth. It's so literal, it looks like a teen designed it. And apparently one did. The flag was the creation of a Parkville High 12th-grader as part of a countywide contest and was officially adopted in 1962. So, not bad for a high-schooler.

Yet marching into this largely uninspiring terrain comes Howard County. For those who don't follow such things (and we really, really trust you have better things to do), Howard County Executive Calvin Ball recently named a 19-member commission to design a new county flag to replace the 56-year-old version. The current flag also quotes the state flag's heraldry (although in this case it's the red-and-white Crossland Banner) along with two symbols in the opposing corners — a sheaf of wheat in one and an outline of the county in a triangle meant to symbolize its proximity to Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York in the other.

And here's where things get interesting, or at least notable. Ball isn't leaving this to high school students. Nor is it solely the chore of historians and the like. His commission may be one of the most eclectic groups ever assembled for this purpose, running the gamut from a member of the Asian American Pacific Islander Commission and the LGBTQIA+ Commission to someone from Howard County Lynching Truth and Reconciliation, Inc. and the CEO of the Howard County Chamber of Commerce. Throw in some actual historians, someone from the county library system, from the tourism community, and four county residents and you have, if nothing else, surely come close to peak diversity.

Now, that's not to scoff at diversity. The Crossland Banner was used by pro-Confederate Marylanders during the Civil War, and that's an unhappy legacy. But this seems like an awful lot of fuss for a flag that — and we don't think we're going out too far on a ledge with this idea — few people will much notice, aside from those attending courthouse outdoor ceremonies who find themselves staring at the flagpoles. We pledge allegiance to the stars-and-stripes, we may even cheer for those Terps' helmets, but point out anyone who gets teary-eyed thinking of their county flag and we'll recommend therapy. Small wonder so many local flags were the result of contests staged just decades ago. They were something of an afterthought.

That raises the obvious question: Is there nothing better to do in Ellicott City? Given Howard County's recent problems with school funding, we're going to guess maybe there is. In the meantime, we can look forward to a flag that better reflects one of Maryland's most affluent suburbs and the planned community of Columbia with a motto like "Home of Nodding Night Court and Dove Sail Lane. Seriously, that's how we name roads around here. And good luck finding your way around our not only quirkily named but confusingly winding streets." Now, that's a flag that anyone would be proud to have in their collection. In their spare time, the commission may want to investigate how to balance this year's K-12 Howard school budget without increasing class size.

Just thought we'd run that up the flagpole.

Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.

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