Maryland State Motto

All 50 U.S. states have official mottos. Twenty-three are in Latin. Twenty-two are in English. Two are in French. One is in Greek. One is in Spanish. One is in Italian: Maryland's. No other state uses Italian for its official motto. This makes Maryland's phrase uniquely traceable — it didn't come from a committee of legislators choosing a classical-language aphorism. It came from one family.

George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, adopted the Italian phrase as his personal family motto in 1622. He had served as Secretary of State to King James I and was a skilled politician and statesman. The phrase was already in circulation in 17th-century England as a saying about the relationship between action and speech. Calvert didn't coin it — he adopted existing wisdom that matched his philosophy of governance.

The phrase uses archaic Italian grammatical forms that would be structured differently in modern Italian. 'Fatti' means deeds or actions. 'Maschii' is the archaic spelling of 'maschi,' meaning male or masculine. 'Parole' means words. 'Femine' is the archaic form of 'femmine,' meaning female or feminine. The literal reading — deeds are masculine, words are feminine — reflects 17th-century associations between gender and strength versus diplomacy.

For most of Maryland's history, the official English translation was 'Manly deeds, womanly words.' This reflected the 17th-century gender associations embedded in the Italian original. By the early 21st century, Maryland officials and legislators considered this translation outdated and potentially misleading.

In 2017, the Maryland General Assembly passed Senate Bill 88. The bill replaced the old translation with a new official English rendering: 'Strong Deeds, Gentle Words.' The change preserved the core meaning — bold action paired with measured speech — while removing the gendered language. Governor Larry Hogan signed the bill into law.

The Italian motto itself was not changed. 'Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine' remains the official motto in its original form. Only the official English translation changed. Maryland's documents and seal continue to display the Italian phrase; any English explanation now renders it as 'Strong Deeds, Gentle Words.'

Maryland's first provincial seal arrived with early colonists in 1634. In January 1645, Richard Ingle — a Protestant merchant and Parliamentary supporter during the English Civil War — led an attack on St. Mary's City, Maryland's colonial capital. He seized government property, took Catholic leaders prisoner, and stole the provincial seal. This period is known in Maryland history as 'The Plundering Time.'

Without the original seal, Maryland's government could not authenticate official documents. Cecilius Calvert, the 2nd Baron Baltimore, was in England at the time. In 1648, he sent a replacement seal from England for use by the Maryland Chancellor. This new seal featured the Calvert family coat of arms — the same heraldic design used on Maryland's flag today — with the family motto 'Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine' on a ribbon.

This 1648 seal established the connection between the Calvert family motto and Maryland's official symbolism. The Calvert family governed Maryland as a proprietary colony, which meant their personal heraldry became the colony's official symbols. The family motto became the colony's motto.

The Italian motto was not used throughout Maryland's history without interruption. After the American Revolution, Maryland's 1776 state constitution briefly retained the colonial seal. But by 1794, the state adopted a new seal design that removed the Calvert family arms and replaced the Italian motto with an English one: 'Industry the Means and Plenty the Result.' The Calvert family connection was deliberately set aside in the republican spirit of the post-revolutionary era.

For 80 years — from 1794 to 1874 — Maryland's official seal used the English motto about industry and plenty rather than the Italian Calvert family phrase. In 1874, the legislature voted to restore the original Calvert design, including the Italian motto. The restoration was partly historical sentiment and partly recognition that the Calvert arms were deeply embedded in Maryland's visual identity.

The current seal features the Calvert quartered arms (gold and black checks, and red and white cross-bottony) on a shield supported by a plowman with a spade and a fisherman with a fish — representing agriculture and maritime commerce. The Italian motto appears on a ribbon at the base. Above the shield is a crowned helmet and mantling.