"The state secret, as we laughingly refer to it, is that Maryland doesn't really have an official state motto," says Maryland state Delegate Sheila Ellis Hixson, who co-sponsored a 1993 bill to replace the words that appear on the state seal.
The old translation of the motto "Fatti Maschii, Parole Femme" read: "Manly deeds, womanly words." The new translation is: "Strong deeds, gentle words."
While the seal is official and the motto is officially part of the seal, the Tuscan proverb is not the official state motto. The motto belonged to the Calvert family, the colonial proprietors of Maryland, and was made part of the state seal in 1648.
Confusion has long reigned over the true meaning of the motto, which appears on a ribbon towards the bottom of the Great Seal. The Maryland General Assembly debated the subject several times during the past century. The translation finally adopted by the state legislature in 1975 was described as a "loose" translation.
Maryland Archivist Edward C. Papenfuse insists contemporary sensitivities played no part in the retranslation. Papenfuse says his interpretation answers an important question: What did the motto mean to George Calvert, the family's patriarch? Apparently, Calvert was very supportive of a new interpretation of the Italian language promoted by John Florio, the author of an Italian-English Dictionary in 1598. "Florio argued that the motto should be translated as gender neutral," Papenfuse notes.
Nevertheless, all the translating and re-translating in the world doesn't change the fact that, unbeknownst to most people, Maryland remains the only state without an official motto. "This is a mistake made by every encyclopedia in America," Papenfuse says.
