Howard County

Howard County
Country	United States
State	Maryland
Adopted	September 19, 1968
Designed by	Jean O. Hannon
Proportions	2:3

The flag of Howard County, Maryland, takes the Calvert section of the Maryland flag, with a sheaf of wheat on the one white quadrant of the flag, and a green map of the county overlapping with a triangle on the other white quadrant.

Symbolism

The wheat sheaf represents agriculture, and the map and triangle represent the county's industrial future.

Flag redesign

The Howard County Flag Commission opened a virtual poll, available until January 12, 2025, allowing residents to rank the 10 selected flag designs chosen from 184 submissions received earlier in 2024.

Following the voting period, the five highest-ranked designs would move forward for final evaluation by the Flag Commission, and would be narrowed down to three finalists to recommend to Howard County Executive Calvin Ball.

Each of the three finalists will receive $1,000, and the final design will be submitted to the County Council for approval.

The initiative to redesign Howard County's flag began in January 2024, with submissions collected from April to June 2024.

The Commission reviewed the results of the votes received and on February 25, 2025, the Commission approved its final report to the County Executive, providing three recommended designs (Entries 71, 115, and 123) for a future flag. The County Executive selected Entry 115 as the final design on March 18, 2025.

The new design was signed into law by the County Executive on May 5, 2025, which will make the new design of the official county flag effective on July 6, 2025.

Below are the 10 finalist designs:

Entry 6

Entry 11

Entry 25

Entry 71

Entry 89

Entry 106

Entry 115

Entry 123

Entry 173

Entry 177

Incoming flag

The incoming flag of Howard County, Maryland, is an arched unequal tricolor of blue, white, and green, with a gold disc rising from the white stripe. At the bottom-center of the flag is a disc with six stripes alternating between gold and white.

The flag will officially be adopted on July 6, 2025, was designed by Esen Paradiso, and has proportions of 3:5.

Symbolism

The design reflects the diversity and inclusion of Howard County's natural and human resources – an historically proud and future-oriented central Maryland community. It represents an evolving agricultural past blended with an optimistic cultural, environmental, and economic future which is cosmopolitan, vibrant, and thriving. Unique yet unified.

The arch represents both the historical past of Howard County (Thomas Viaduct) and its dynamic future (the Chrysalis) — a new hub of culture, the arts, education, and commercial enterprise.

The stripes represent Howard County's historical and contemporary abundance of agricultural and natural resources — farms, fields, fairways.

The circle represents the boundless energy of the sun empowering a diverse community with a view toward the horizon, a bright and optimistic future.

Blue represents the optimism of endless skies, the hope of a bright future, and the abundance of natural and recreational resources — lakes, rivers, and waterways.

Green represents the planned preservation and utilization of the natural environment, the continuing investment in a thriving agriculture economy, and the promise of growing a culturally appreciative community — as seen through the iconic Chrysalis — where everyone is welcome.

Gold represents the sun's energy for thriving farms and fields, the optimism of a culturally diverse community – and a primary color from the Maryland flag as a location anchor for Howard County.