Editing Montgomery County, Maryland (section)

==Etymology==
{{Multiple image
|image1=Coat of arms of Montgomery County, Maryland (c. 1944–1976).png
|caption1=The county coat of arms, used until 1976
|image2=Flag of Montgomery County, Maryland (1944-1976).png
|caption2={{FIAV|historical}} The [[Flag of Montgomery County, Maryland|county flag]] used from May 3, 1944, to October 5, 1976}}
The Maryland state legislature named Montgomery County after [[Richard Montgomery]]; the county was created from lands that had at one point or another been part of [[Frederick County, Maryland|Frederick County]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ghostsofdc.org/2012/11/07/montgomery-county-history/|title=Why Is It Named Montgomery County?|last=Tom|date=November 7, 2012|website=Ghosts of DC|language=en-US|access-date=February 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131093353/https://ghostsofdc.org/2012/11/07/montgomery-county-history/|archive-date=January 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> On September 6, 1776,<ref name=cent/> [[Thomas Sprigg Wootton]] from Rockville, Maryland, introduced legislation, while serving at the Maryland Constitutional Convention, to create lower Frederick County as Montgomery County. The name, Montgomery County, along with the founding of Washington County, Maryland, after [[George Washington]], was the first time in American history that counties and provinces in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] were not named after British referents. 

The name use of Montgomery and Washington County were seen as further defiance to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The county's nickname of "MoCo" is derived from "'''Mo'''ntgomery '''Co'''unty",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKZDUWpk7jQ| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326081827/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKZDUWpk7jQ| archive-date=March 26, 2019 | url-status=dead|title=Get On Board BRT - Vote Now!|last=Rapid Transit - Montgomery County, MD|via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/MoCoCouncilMD/status/798593468499042304|title=@CoUnTy_ExEc talks about his mission to make #MoCo one of the most welcoming places on earth. #CommunityMatterspic.twitter.com/EJuLFi2NAz|first=Montgomery|last=Council|date=November 15, 2016|access-date=November 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612095406/https://twitter.com/MoCoCouncilMD/status/798593468499042304|archive-date=June 12, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> in use as early as 2001.<ref>{{cite web|date=May 24, 2001|title=Got Plans?|publisher=The Washington Post Company|author=The Going Out Gurus|location=Washington, D.C.|work=With the Entertainment Guide Staff|quote=I'm hoping to answer you and our Silver Spring questioner, who was looking for something this weekend in '''MoCo'''.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/01/gotplans/gotplans0524.htm|access-date=April 15, 2024|archive-date=March 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240318173743/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/01/gotplans/gotplans0524.htm|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>

The county's motto, adopted in 1976, is "Gardez Bien", a [[French language|French]] phrase meaning "Watch Well". The county's motto is also the motto of its namesake's family.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clanmontgomery.org/symbols.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905114211/http://clanmontgomery.org/symbols.html|archive-date=September 5, 2008|work=Clan Montgomery Symbols|author=Clan Montgomery Society|publisher=Clan Montgomery Society|title=Montgomery Motto|date=June 14, 2008|access-date=September 5, 2008|quote="Garde" (pronounced gard-uh) or "Gardez" (pronounced garday) means "watch", in the sense of "look out" or "on guard". "Bien" (pronounced bee-ann) means "good" to give the overall meaning of "Watch Well".}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/historic/places_from_the_past/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430094909/http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/historic/places_from_the_past/|archive-date=April 30, 2012|work=Montgomery County Historic Sites|title=Places From the Past|publisher=Montgomery County Planning Department|location=Silver Spring, Maryland |date=January 26, 2012|access-date=April 30, 2012|quote=Gardez Bien, adopted in 1976 as the county motto, means to guard well or take good care}}</ref><ref>https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Places-from-the-Past-web_with_cover.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412012413/https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Places-from-the-Past-web_with_cover.pdf |date=April 12, 2021 }} {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}</ref>