Baltimore County Council might be updating the county seal for the first time since 1957, if Bill No. 109-26 gets enough council votes.
The original seal, designed by Towson resident Adelaide M. Haspert, featured the Calvert and Crossland Coats of Arms and seven stars representing the County’s seven councilmanic districts.
But the seal will soon be outdated as the council prepares to expand from seven to nine members with next week’s election.
If passed, the bill would change the number of stars on the county seal from seven to nine to reflect the new number of councilmanic districts. The process by which a seal is adopted appears in Section 1007 of the County Charter:
“[T]he county council shall, by ordinance enacted at its first legislative session, adopt a county seal, and thereafter it may use and alter the same at pleasure. The seal shall contain the corporate name of the county and such other information or insignia as the county council may determine. The county executive, the secretary to the county executive, the secretary of the county council and such other officers as may be specified by ordinance of the county council shall have power to attest to the county seal.”
– Baltimore County original charter, 1956
In the November 2024 general election, Baltimore County voters decided to expand the council from seven to nine members, an addition that they estimated would cost the county around $12 million in renovations to council offices and chambers. The current councilmanic districts are shown in the map below on the left.
The new map (above on the right) includes nine districts, and will be effective for the 2026 and 2030 elections. The Baltimore County Council and administration have updated code provisions, revised the membership of county boards and commissions, done the necessary renovations to council offices and chambers, and conducted hours of required administrative work behind the scenes to reflect the new number.
“The Administration and the Council believe that the adoption of an updated nine-star County Seal is a fitting capstone to nearly two years of preparations and a wonderful welcome to the first nine-member County Council of Baltimore County,” reads the bill. “Accordingly, Bill 109-26 updates § 1-1-102 to state that the County seal shall have nine stars representing the nine councilmanic districts.”
If five members of the County Council vote yes on the bill, it will take effect on Dec. 7, 2026.
