PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 27, 2020
While it has certainly stuck, the origins of the slogan are unclear. No one has been able to pinpoint a place, person or entity that first coined the phrase. During the Great Depression, the state’s 56th governor, Louis J. Brann, took several steps to increase Maine’s profile on the national scale. Among these efforts were several “welcome home days” – huge rally-like events that started at the State House and spilled out into Capitol Park. It was under Brann’s administration that the word first appeared on a license plate.