MAINE, FLAG OF

U.S. state flag consisting of a dark blue field (background) with the state coat of arms in the centre. Until 1820 Maine was a district of Massachusetts, and its early symbols were based on that connection. The pine tree emblem that had been adopted for the Massachusetts naval flag in April 1776 was prominently featured in the coat of arms of Maine when it became a state. Pine trees were important to the early economy of the area because of their use in the shipbuilding industry. A flag design consisting of a pine tree and the North Star on a buff (light tan) background was adopted on March 21, 1901. The star was an appropriate symbol, as Maine was the northernmost state for many years. The current state flag was established in February 1909. Its coat of arms shows a moose-and-pine-tree emblem on a shield supported by a farmer and a sailor; a ribbon below bears the state name, and above is the North Star and the Latin motto Dirigo (I direct). Maine also has a special naval flag resembling that of Massachusetts; it features a white background with a green pine tree. Whitney Smith History Algonquian Indians were the earliest known settlers in Maine. They lived along the river valleys and the coasts, hunting, fishing, and planting crops. Few of them survived the arrival of the European settlers. But the earlier tribes are remembered in numerous place-names; in the sites of their camps and burial grounds; in ancient trails and water routes; in the use of the canoe, the snowshoe, and the toboggan; in crops such as corn (maize), beans, and squash; and in the revived concern for the natural environment. Explorations and disputes The first European explorations of Maine are shrouded in mystery. Evidence that Norsemen landed on the coast is scant and disputed, and serious questions exist about some of the early British claims based on John Cabot's voyages in the late 1490s. Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English explorers did probe the islands, the bays, and the rivers of the maine throughout the 16th century; by the first decade of the 17th century, summer fisheries had been established on some of the coastal islands, and fur trade had begun with the Indians. An area claimed by both the French and English crowns was an intermittent battleground between the English, the Indians, and the French from 1615 until 1675 and a constant battleground from that date until 1763, when the British conquered the French in eastern Canada. Maine was given separate provincial status in New England under royal patents granted by Charles I. The Puritans of Massachusetts took over the territory when the proprietor, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, backed the losing side in the English Civil Wars. Frontier settlers in Maine chafed under Massachusetts rule, but the merchants of the coastal towns resisted the separation movement until the War of 1812, when popular resentment against the failure of the Massachusetts Commonwealth to protect the District of Maine against British raids tipped the scales in favour of separation. Maine entered the Union as a free state under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The northeast boundary of the state was a matter of serious controversy between the United States and Britain. The Treaty of Paris (1783) identified the boundary in part as extending along the middle of the St. Croix River to its source and from there north to highlands running northwest to the head of Connecticut river. Identifying these highlands proved to be difficult. Efforts at arbitration failed in 1831, and the disputed area was the scene of the so-called Aroostook War of 183839. In March 1839 General Winfield Scott arranged a truce calling for joint occupancy of the disputed territory. This remained in effect until 1842, when a settlement was reached that divided the territory virtually in half.