In the black and gold quarters of the flag is the arms of The 1st Baron Baltimore, a former Secretary of State, granted as a reward for his storming a fortification during a battle. (The vertical bars approximate the bars of the palisade.) The red and white quarter is the coat of arms of the Crossland family, the family of Lord Baltimore's mother from South Crosland in West Yorkshire, England, and consists of a cross bottony with the red and white sides of the cross alternating. Since Lord Baltimore's mother was a heraldic heiress, he was entitled to use both arms in his banner of arms. Upon the death of George, Lord Baltimore, in April 1632, the right to bear the arms and banner passed to his eldest son Cecil, 2nd Baron Baltimore, to whom the Province of Maryland was granted that same year.