5X8 FT NYL-GLO MASSACHUSETTS

MASSACHUSETTS FLAG FACTS

The field of the Massachusetts state flag is white with the state seal within.  The five pointed silver star in the seal is white on the flag.  It was approved on July 3, 1971.  Prior to that date the seal was on the front side and a green pine tree was on the reverse side.

The state seal in the center of the flag is a blue shield with an Indian dressed in a shirt and mocassins. He  holds a bow in his right hand and an arrow pointing downward in his left hand all in gold.  In the upper corner above his right hand is a silver five pointed star.  The crest is a wreath of blue and gold with a gold arm clothed and ruffled, with the hand grasping a broad sword.  The shield's shape is called "Plantegenet" and the Native American who posed was of the Algonquin nation.  The arrow pointing downward indicates that the Indian is peaceful and the star indicates that Massachusetts is one of the original thirteen colonies. the sword illustrates the Latin motto that is inscribed in the ribbon at the bottom of the shield,  "Ense petit placidam sub  libertate quietum".  Translated it is "By the sword we seek peace but peace only under liberty".  This is the second of two lines written around 1659 by Algernon Sydney, an English soldier and politician, in the Book of Mottos in the King's Library located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was adopted in 1775 by the Provincial Congress