Last week, we wrote about how liveries lead the way for visual branding of commercial airlines, using sleek designs and bright colors that help define their companies in customers’ eyes.

Branding, obviously, is not limited to aviation. It applies to everything from a teenager’s TikTok account to entire nations. Billions of dollars are spent every year developing brand identities around the world.

Which brings us to perhaps the most famous state flag in the United States of America.

Maryland’s instantly recognizable banner featuring heraldic designs, four bold colors and perfect symmetry is based on the coat of arms of the family that established the state’s colony.

Iterations of the flag appear on logos and insignia for several Maryland universities as well as their sports teams. The pattern appears on apparel, public transit, license plates, sculptures and more all across Pennsylvania’s neighbor to the south.

The unique design and its ties to the very founding of the state make the flag a powerful and popular symbol for Marylanders. In other words, it’s perfect branding.

And in 2005, for the first time, it appeared splashed across the fuselage of a Boeing 737-700 when Southwest unveiled its Maryland One aircraft, the sixth in its fleet to honor a state.

Hudson Vennum captured the can’t-miss-it jet as it approached Pittsburgh International Airport last year.

But we don’t necessarily need rare visitors and special paint jobs to find cool visuals here.

A long exposure at dusk alongside one of the roads that circle the airport gave Mark Yazer this intriguing image of both the vehicular and airborne traffic we see every day.

Thanks, Hudson and Mark!

Our readers continue to pass along shots of unique aircraft, international airports, historical events, gorgeous views and even family vacation photos for this feature. We love them! Keep them coming—you can click here for submission guidelines.

A long exposure of a plane landing at PIT above Business Loop 376 highway traffic. (Photo submitted by Mark Yazer)