The Pine Tree and North Star: A Maine Symbol Through Time
- Shannon Cyr
- May 28
- 7 min read
From colonial mast trees and Revolutionary resistance to Maine’s original 1901 state flag and modern revival, this post explores how the Pine Tree and North Star evolved from a practical resource into one of Maine’s most recognizable symbols.
The Pine Tree and North Star
The Pine Tree and North Star symbol endure because they’ve always represented something bigger: independence, resourcefulness, and a sense of place.
When we began building the Maine collection for Mainely Cards, we looked to the symbols most associated with our state. The single pine and the North Star was the first one we landed on. Spend any amount of time in Maine and you’ll start to see why.
This symbol is everywhere: front porches, apparel, stickers, shop signage, souvenirs, boats, and now standard issue license plates.
What people may not realize is that this familiar symbol began as Maine’s first official state flag, adopted in 1901 and replaced in 1909.
So, how did a design that served for less than a decade become one of Maine’s most enduring visual symbols? Let's find out.
Timber for the Crown
European settlement along the Maine coast expanded in the early 1600s because the region offered something immensely valuable: timber.
At the time, England was expanding its naval power and global trade networks during the Age of Exploration. Building and maintaining large wooden sailing fleets required immense quantities of timber, especially tall, straight trees strong enough to produce a mast that could support increasingly larger ships.
Maine’s forests grew enormous Eastern White Pine trees prized for their tall, straight, lightweight trunks. Many reached heights of more than 150 feet, making them ideal for the massive masts required by Britain’s expanding wooden sailing fleets.
England’s own forests had already been heavily depleted after centuries of shipbuilding, construction, fuel consumption, and military expansion.
As England’s demand for naval timber increased, so did its interest in Maine’s forests. Naval power shaped global influence, and Maine’s towering white pines became an incredibly valuable strategic resource to the British Crown.
The Broad Arrow
By the late 1600s, the Crown began claiming Maine’s largest white pines for the Royal Navy. Under what became known as the King’s Broad Arrow policy, royal surveyors carved a broad arrow symbol directly into the bark, reserving the trees for British naval use and restricting how colonists could harvest, sell, use, or profit from the timber.
For many colonists, the Broad Arrow policy became a growing source of resentment. Maine's Eastern White Pine trees were deeply tied to the local economy and livelihood, yet some of the most valuable trees were effectively controlled by a distant government across the Atlantic.
Frustration over the Broad Arrow policy grew as Maine’s timber economy expanded and local shipbuilders relied on the same forests to support regional trade. Many colonists ignored the regulations entirely, cutting reserved trees despite Crown restrictions.
Opposition to the policy spread across New England and eventually erupted into open defiance, including the 1772 Pine Tree Riot in neighboring New Hampshire. After British officials attempted to enforce Crown timber laws against local mill owners, colonists organized against the authorities and forcibly drove them from the town.
A Symbol of Resistance
As tensions between the colonies and Britain escalated, the pine tree became increasingly associated with colonial resistance and independence throughout New England. It came to represent local industry, economic independence, and opposition to British control over colonial resources and trade.
During the American Revolution, pine trees began appearing on flags, military banners, and other colonial imagery throughout New England. One of the most recognizable examples was the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, a white banner featuring a green pine tree used by some colonial naval forces during the Revolutionary War.
The pine tree remained a regional symbol of resistance and independence long after the Revolutionary War ended and Maine earned statehood.
The Flag That Disappeared
So when Maine finally adopted its first official state flag in 1901, the choice was obvious. The design centered on a single pine tree and blue North Star. The pine tree reflected Maine’s forests, shipbuilding history, and long-standing association with independence and self-reliance. The North Star represented Maine’s state motto, Dirigo — Latin for “I lead.”
Compared to many state flags of the era, the design was remarkably simple: one green pine tree, one blue five-pointed North Star in the upper corner, and a buff-colored background representing traditional tanned deerhide.
The simplicity was intentional. At a time when flags were regularly viewed from long distances and at sea, clear, recognizable imagery served a practical purpose. Ships needed to identify allegiance quickly, even through fog, storms, smoke, and difficult sea conditions.
Despite the deep symbolism behind the Pine Tree and North Star design, Maine’s first official state flag design only lasted eight years.
From Pine Tree to State Seal
In 1909, Maine replaced the original Pine Tree flag with a new design featuring the state coat of arms on a dark blue background.
Rather than abandoning the original symbolism entirely, Maine incorporated the pine tree and North Star into a more elaborate state seal featuring a farmer, sailor, moose, decorative shield, and the state motto “Dirigo.”
So why was the original Pine Tree flag replaced?
Politics.
By the early 1900s, Civil War veterans held significant political influence across the United States, including within Maine’s legislature. During this period, dark blue state seal flags modeled after Union regimental banners had become increasingly common across the country. These military-inspired designs were associated with patriotism, authority, sacrifice, and state legitimacy in the decades following the war.
In 1909, Maine followed that broader national trend, replacing the simpler Pine Tree and North Star design with the more formal state seal flag that remains in official use today.
The Return of the Tree and Star
Although the 1901 flag disappeared from official use, the pine tree and North Star never fully vanished from Maine’s cultural identity.
Efforts to restore the original flag began resurfacing decades later.
In the 1990s, vexillologist David Martucci advocated for legislation to return to the 1901 flag design, arguing that the simpler flag better reflected Maine’s identity as the Pine Tree State and stood apart from the many blue state seal flags used across the country. His efforts failed overwhelmingly in the legislature.
For decades, the original flag remained largely absent from everyday public life, preserved mostly through historians, collectors, and a small number of flag enthusiasts.
Then, in 2017, the Maine Flag Company began producing a modern appliqué version of the original Pine Tree flag from their Portland studio. Their version simplified the historic tree design while preserving the recognizable pine tree and blue North Star symbol.
The new design quickly gained visibility across the state. Soon other companies began producing their own versions of the symbolic pairing, each slightly different from the original.
In many ways, the pairing of a lone pine tree and the North Star itself became more influential than the historic 1901 design. In an era of visual noise, the duo feels modern again — simple, legible, and unmistakably Maine.
A New Symbol
As the Pine Tree and North Star flag regained cultural visibility across the state, renewed efforts emerged to officially restore the design as Maine’s state flag. The revival wasn’t just aesthetic; it reflected a broader return to local identity, craftsmanship, and regional pride.
Legislative proposals returned in 2019, 2021, and 2023, culminating in Question 5 on the 2024 statewide ballot. Ultimately, Maine voters rejected the proposal and voted to keep the current state flag design.
But by that point, the pine tree and North Star comeback was already well underway.
The symbol began appearing everywhere: storefronts, front porches, hats, stickers, apparel, camp flags, brewery merchandise, boat decals, and outdoor gear. Today, the pine tree and blue North Star remain one of the most recognizable visual symbols of Maine identity, right up there with lobsters and lighthouses.
The design even appears on Maine’s standard issue license plates, ensuring the symbol is seen daily across the state, from Kittery to Fort Kent.
Mainely Cards Pine Tree and North Star Greeting Card
When designing our Pine Tree and North Star card, we knew we didn’t want to create an exact reproduction of the 1901 flag.
Instead, we created our own layered paper interpretation inspired by the symbol’s long connection to Maine’s forests, maritime history, independence, and identity.
This design keeps the composition simple and direct, echoing the familiar pairing from Maine’s early flag. A single pine tree is centered on the card, with a single blue star placed above and slightly to the left, creating a modern interpretation of one of Maine’s most recognizable historical symbols.
The symbol may have changed over time, but its connection to Maine never has — and it continues to evolve with the people who carry it forward.
From Maine,
Shannon
