Effective October 1, 2001, the calico cat became the official cat of. Its colors of orange, black, and white are shared with the Baltimore oriole (state bird) and the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly (state insect).

Calico is not a breed of cat, but an unusual coloring occurring across many breeds, including Domestic Short-hair, Persian, and Manx. Virtually all calico cats are female; a male calico is a genetic anomaly and usually sterile. Producing calico kittens through selective breeding also is nearly impossible due to unpredictable actions of genes and chromosomes when cells multiply in a feline fetus.