The Seal of Baltimore is the official government emblem of the City of Baltimore, Maryland in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The current seal was adopted for use in 1827. The seal is in the shape of an ellipse

Ellipse

In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...

 with the image of the Battle Monument

Battle Monument

The Battle Monument, located on Calvert Street between Fayette and Lexington Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, commemorates the Battle of Baltimore and honors those who died during the month of September 1814 during the War of 1812...

 featured in its centre. Around the inner edge of the ellipse are the words CITY OF BALTIMORE, while under the image of the Battle Monument is the year 1797, the year in which the city was first incorporated. Colour versions of the seal are in Black and Gold, representative of the colours of the coat of arms of the Calvert family, a member of whom, Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore

Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore

Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...

, founded the colony of Maryland.