Historical coats of arms of the U.S. states date back to the admission of the first states to the Union. Despite the widely accepted practice of determining early statehood from the date of ratification of the United States Constitution, many of the original colonies referred to themselves as states shortly after the Declaration of Independence was signed on 4 July 1776. Committees of political leaders and intellectuals were established by state legislatures to research and propose a seal and coat of arms. Many of these members were signers of the Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, and United States Constitution. Several of the earliest adopted state coats of arms and seals were similar or identical to their colonial counterparts.
State Arms of the Union, illustrated by Henry Mitchell and published by Louis Prang (known as the father of the lithographic industry), offers historically accurate renderings of the state's coats of arms as they existed in 1876. An accomplished engraver with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for 40 years, Mitchell was responsible for engraving several coats of arms for official state use as well as arms for well-known educational and philanthropic organizations. The illustrations are presented alongside proof impressions from the engraved dies used to print the state arms on the first issue of United States National Bank Notes.
Heraldic arms were worn (embroidered) on a coat which knights wore over their armor, hence coat of arms, [1] a term which dates back roughly 1,000 years [2] to jousting tournaments. [3]
A state coat of arms may exist independently of the seal, but the reverse is not generally the case. [4] A seal contains a coat of arms or other devices [5] [6] whereas a state coat of arms constitutes the bulk of a seal, [6] [7] except for the wording identifying it as the "Great Seal of the State of..." [8] A "seal" has been described as the design impressed on public or legislative official documents, [9] whereas a coat of arms generally appears for illustrative purposes. Examples include flags and banners, [10] and state militia uniform caps [11] and buttons, [12] as well as specifically designed regimental coats of arms for U.S. Infantry Regiments, and National Guard units. [13]
A coat of arms of a nation or state is usually the design or device of the obverse of its seal. It is an official emblem, mark of identification, and symbol of the authority of the government of a nation or state. A nation or state's coat of arms is oftentimes referred to as the national or state arms. [14]
The design of a state coat of arms or seal has generally been authorized by a provision in the state constitution or a legislative act. In most instances, a committee (more often than not consisting of three members) [15] [16] [17] [18] was appointed to study the issue, seek advice from qualified artists, historians, legal scholars, etc., and report back to the authorizing legislative body with a design for their approval. Historically, this committee has consisted of notable members of society and elected officials.
The first committee to design the Great Seal of the United States was appointed on 4 July 1776 by the Second Continental Congress and consisted of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson. [19] Their design was rejected on 20 August 1776. The second committee (James Lovell, John Morin Scott, and William Churchill Houston) design met with the same fate. [15] It was the third committee (Arthur Middleton, Elias Boudinot, John Rutledge, who consulted with William Barton) that submitted a design which was approved on 20 July 1782. [15]
Individual states approached their coats of arms and seals in a similar manner (i.e., seeking direction from the statesmen and scholars of their community). A few of those involved in the design of state arms and seals include (but is not limited to): John Jay and Gouverneur Morris (New York); [16] Francis Hopkinson (New Jersey); [20] David Rittenhouse and George Clymer (Pennsylvania); [18] and George Mason, Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin West, and Thomas Jefferson (Virginia). [21]
An impression of the Great Seal of a state (or its coat of arms) has long been required on official documents ranging from deeds to legislative acts. It was the emblem that certified the authenticity of a given document [14] [22] or that the authority of the state was invested in the said document. [22] Judicial decisions upheld the need for a valid seal and/or coat of arms on notarized documents. [nb 1]
One of the more compelling legislative actions recognizing the legal importance/authority of the state seal and arms occurred in February 1873 when a joint session of the United States Congress refused to recognize Arkansas's electoral votes in the November 1872 presidential election. [23] The official tally of the state's electoral votes was submitted with an invalid seal (bearing the coat of arms of the office of the Secretary of the State of Arkansas versus the seal of the state of Arkansas bearing the state arms). [23] [24] [25]
Courts and state legislatures also opined on the inappropriate uses of state seals and arms. Most states barred their use for any kind of advertising. [nb 2] Reproduction for corporate use was similarly prohibited [26] and such infractions were classified as offenses against public property. [27] The 2003 Code of Federal Regulations pertaining to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives prohibits the use of state seals or coats of arms in product branding so as not to mislead the public into thinking that a commercial product has been endorsed by a government organization. [28]
A state coat of arms provided an opportunity to convey the natural and industrial resources available to its residents. [31] Common themes depicted in state arms include farming, industry, transportation (e.g., boats, trains, and wagons), and nature (e.g., sunsets and mountains). The Ohio and Indiana state arms depict fairly substantial mountains in the distance. In reality, the highest points in Ohio and Indiana are Campbell Hill (1,550 feet (470 m)) [32] and Hoosier Hill (1,257 feet (383 m)) [33] respectively.
The Florida state arms also depicts mountains in the distance but the highest point in the state is 345 feet (105 m) feet high. [34] In addition to the distortion of local geography, [35] the image also contains historically inaccurate information. The period depicted in the state arms (c. 1830) was a time when the local Seminole Native Americans were hostile toward white settlers; the warm greeting (e.g., flower petals strewn on the ground) offered by the Seminole to the arriving steam ship would have been highly improbable. [35] Furthermore, the Seminole woman depicted would not have worn any headdress, particularly one of northern and western Seminole tribes. [35]
Published in 1876 by Louis Prang and illustrated by Henry Mitchell, State Arms of the Union contains a chromolithographed title page depicting the Great Seal of the United States and seven color plates with 45 state and territorial coats of arms. The book was likely published for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. [36]
Louis Prang was born 12 March 1824 in Breslau. At the age of 13 he began apprenticing for his father [37] and learned to dye and print calico, as well as wood and metal engraving. [38] Prang emigrated to Boston in 1850 and became an illustrator for a number of local publications. [39] Starting a business partnership in 1856 to manufacture copper and lithographic plates, Prang became sole proprietor in 1860 and named the company L. Prang & Co. [38] He specialized in color printing, more specifically "chromolithography" [37] Prang spent over four decades studying and creating a standard of colors [40] and engraved and printed maps, prints of contemporary celebrities, and color reproductions of famous works of art. [39]
In 1875 Prang was responsible for introducing the Christmas card to America. [38] He created an annual design competition for his Christmas cards (run between 1880 and 1884), and judges included John La Farge, Samuel Colman, Stanford White, and Louis Comfort Tiffany. [37] Some of the notable winners included Elihu Vedder, Rosina Emmet Sherwood, Edwin Blashfield, [37] Thomas Moran, and Will Hicok Low. [39] Prang has become known as the "father of the American Christmas card", [37] [38] [39] as well as the "father of the lithographic industry". [40] [41]
Henry Mitchell was born in New York in 1835 and went to school in Philadelphia. [42] At the age of 10 he began working with his uncle [43] to learn the trade of gem and steel engraving. [44] By the age of 20 (1855), Mitchell had engraved the official seals for the Kingdom of Hawaii. [44] [45]
In 1868 Mitchell joined the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and for 40 years engraved stamped envelopes. [46] Through his BEP work, Mitchell was also responsible for engraving the seal of the Secretary of the Navy and the Internal Revenue Service. [45] He also engraved the state seals for Massachusetts, [44] New York, [45] New Hampshire, [45] Vermont, [44] Rhode Island, [43] and Wisconsin. [47] Outside of state and federal government engraving, Mitchell engraved the seals and coats of arms for many well-known institutions which include Harvard University, Society of the Cincinnati, and Boston Public Library. [45] He engraved the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition award medal (1876) which was struck in the Philadelphia Mint. [48] In 1891, Mitchell was invited by the Secretary of the Treasury to join a committee to evaluate the artistic design proposals for a new issue of U.S. coins. The two other members were Charles E. Barber, Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. [49] [50]
In addition to being considered an expert on heraldry, [45] Mitchell was regarded as one of the best engravers [42] [43] and medal designers in the United States. [51]
The National Bank Act (12 Stat. 532) authorized the issue of a national currency. Historical vignettes on the front and back were the same by denomination (e.g., Landing of Columbus was on the reverse of all $5 notes) [52] and the state coat of arms (located on the reverse left side) was coordinated with the geographic location of the issuing bank. [52] Records do not clearly state who bore the responsibility for the design of the state arms (i.e., the U.S. Treasury Department, or the three bank note companies contracted for engraving and printing). [53] It appears that the first dies (for New Jersey, Missouri, Minnesota, and Vermont) were completed by the American Bank Note Company by 9 October 1863 based on their own drawings. [54] State arms appeared on the reverse of the Original and 1875 Series notes (first and second issue of the first design), and the 1882 Brown Back Series (the second design) of National Bank Notes.
Location | Colonial Currency | National Banknotes | Information |
---|---|---|---|
Connecticut | Colonial (1775) [nb 3] National (1863) [nb 4] | ||
Maryland | Colonial (1770) National (1864) [nb 4] | ||
Rhode Island | Colonial (1738) National (1863) [nb 4] | ||
South Carolina | Colonial (1778) National (1865) [nb 4] |
The main table contains four columns. Location refers to either the territory or state and is linked to the most relevant article (e.g., Seal of... or Coat of arms of...). All but one of the illustrations are included in a relevant article. Coat of arms contains the State Arms of the Union illustrations. National Bank Note contains the state arms found on U.S. National Currency between 1863 and the 1890s. Information lists the date of statehood and/or territorial organic act date and the date the state or territorial arms were accepted by constitutional convention or legislative assembly.
Location | Coat of arms [nb 5] | National Bank Note | Information [nb 6] |
---|---|---|---|
Alabama | Arms – 29 December 1868 [56] | Statehood – 14 December 1819||
Arkansas | Arms – 3 May 1864 [57] | Statehood – 15 June 1836||
California | Arms – 2 October 1849 [56] | Statehood – 9 September 1850||
Colorado | Arms – 13 June 1877 [58] | Statehood – 1 August 1876||
Connecticut | Arms – October 1842 [59] | Statehood – 9 January 1788||
Dakota Territory | Organic Act – 2 March 1861 [60] Arms – 3 January 1863 [61] | ||
Delaware | Arms – 18 January 1847 [62] | Statehood – 7 December 1787||
District of Columbia | Organic Act – 21 February 1790 [60] Arms – 3 August 1871 [63] | ||
Florida | Arms – 6 August 1868 [64] | Statehood – 3 March 1845||
Georgia | Arms – 8 February 1799 [65] | Statehood – 2 January 1788||
Idaho Territory | Organic Act – 3 March 1863 [66] Arms – 13 March 1866 [67] Statehood – 3 July 1890 | ||
Illinois | Arms – 7 March 1867 [68] | Statehood – 3 December 1818||
Indiana | Arms – 13 December 1816 [69] | Statehood – 11 December 1816||
Iowa | Arms – 25 February 1847 [70] | Statehood – 28 December 1846||
Kansas | Arms – 25 May 1861 [71] [nb 7] | Statehood – 29 January 1861||
Kentucky | Arms – 20 December 1792 [73] [nb 8] | Statehood – 1 June 1792||
Louisiana | Arms – 23 December 1813 [nb 9] [nb 10] | Statehood – 30 April 1812||
Maine | Arms – 9 June 1820 [77] [78] | Statehood – 15 March 1820||
Maryland | Arms – 18 March 1876 [77] [nb 11] [nb 12] | Statehood – 28 April 1788||
Massachusetts | Arms – 13 December 1780 [81] | Statehood – 6 February 1788||
Michigan | Arms – 2 June 1835 [82] | Statehood – 26 January 1837||
Minnesota | Arms – 16 July 1858 [83] | Statehood – 11 May 1858||
Mississippi | Arms – 6 February 1894 [nb 13] | Statehood – 10 December 1817||
Missouri | Arms – 11 January 1822 [86] [nb 14] | Statehood – 10 August 1821||
Montana Territory | Organic Act – 26 May 1864 [66] Arms – 9 February 1865 [88] [nb 15] Statehood – 8 November 1889 | ||
Nebraska | Arms – 15 June 1867 [90] [nb 16] | Statehood – 1 March 1867||
Nevada | Arms – 24 February 1866 [91] | Statehood – 31 October 1864||
New Hampshire | Arms – 12 February 1785 [92] | Statehood – 21 June 1788||
New Jersey | Arms – 10 September 1776 [82] [nb 17] | Statehood – 18 December 1787||
New Mexico Territory | Organic Act – 9 September 1850 [60] Arms – 1 February 1887 [94] Statehood – 6 January 1912 | ||
New York | Arms – 27 March 1809 [95] | Statehood – 26 July 1788||
North Carolina | Arms – 1835 [96] | Statehood – 21 November 1789||
North Dakota | Arms – 1 October 1889 [98] | Statehood – 2 November 1889||
Ohio | Arms – 1 March 1803 [nb 20] | Statehood – 1 March 1803||
Oregon | Arms – 2 June 1859 [99] | Statehood – 14 February 1859||
Pennsylvania | Arms – 17 March 1875 [100] | Statehood – 12 December 1787||
Rhode Island | Arms – 24 February 1875 [101] [nb 21] | Statehood – 29 May 1790||
South Carolina | Arms – 2 April 1776 [102] | Statehood – 23 May 1788||
South Dakota | Arms – 1 October 1889 [103] | Statehood – 2 November 1889||
Tennessee | Arms – 24 April 1802 [104] [nb 23] | Statehood – 1 June 1796||
Texas | Arms – 25 January 1839 [105] | Statehood – 29 December 1845||
Utah Territory | Organic Act – 9 September 1850 [60] Arms – 9 September 1850 [106] Statehood – 4 January 1896 | ||
Vermont | Arms – 20 February 1779 [107] [nb 24] | Statehood – 4 March 1791||
Virginia | Arms – 1776 [nb 25] [nb 26] | Statehood – 25 June 1788||
Washington | Organic Act – 2 March 1853 [60] Arms – 28 February 1854 [111] | ||
West Virginia | Arms – 26 September 1863 [112] [nb 28] | Statehood – 20 June 1863||
Wisconsin | Arms – 29 December 1851 [113] | Statehood – 29 May 1848||
Wyoming Territory | Organic Act – 25 July 1868 [114] Statehood – 10 July 1890 | ||
When State Arms of the Union was published in 1876, some existing arms were not included (e.g., Arizona and Washington Territory). At the time, Alaska was classified as the Department of Alaska (1867–84) and became the District of Alaska (1884–1912) before becoming the Territory of Alaska (1912–59). The Alaska territorial seal was designed in 1910 [115] and adopted in 1913. [116] On 3 January 1959 Alaska became the 49th U.S. State. [117] The Oklahoma Territory (1890–1907) Organic Act was approved on 2 May 1890, and a territorial seal was adopted on 10 January 1893. [118] Hawaii, formerly the Kingdom of Hawaii (1795–1893), Republic of Hawaii (1894–98), and then Territory of Hawaii (1898–1959) became the 50th U.S. State on 21 August 1959. [119] None of the territories or states mentioned above had a coat of arms represented on national currency.
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of Nuevo México becoming part of the American frontier after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It existed with varying boundaries until the territory was admitted to the Union as the U.S. state of New Mexico in 1912. This jurisdiction was an organized, incorporated territory of the US for nearly 62 years, the longest period of any territory in the contiguous United States.
The seal of the president of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the president of the United States to the U.S. Congress, and is also used as a symbol of the presidency itself. The central design, based on the Great Seal of the United States, is the official coat of arms of the U.S. presidency and also appears on the presidential flag.
The Great Seal of the State of Hawaii was designated officially by Act 272 of the 1959 Territorial Legislature and is based on the territorial seal. Modifications to the territorial seal included the use of the words "State of Hawaii" at the top and "1959" within the circle. Provisions for a seal for the state of Hawaii were enacted by the Territorial Legislature and approved by Governor William F. Quinn on June 8, 1959. The passage of the Admission Act in 1959, admitted Hawaii as the 50th State of the United States of America on August 21, 1959.
The coat of arms of Puerto Rico was first granted by the Spanish Crown on November 8, 1511, making it the oldest heraldic achievement still currently in use in the Americas. The territory was seized from Spain and ceded to the United States as a result of the Treaty of Paris that put an end to the Spanish–American War in 1899, after which two interim arms were adopted briefly. A law was passed in 1905 that reestablished the historical armorial bearings as the arms of the territory. Then in 1976, after numerous investigations and amendments, the current version was adopted.
The Great Seal of the State of Vermont is the official seal of the U.S. state of Vermont, used to emboss and authenticate official documents. It was designed by Ira Allen, brother of Ethan Allen and one of the state's founders.
The U.S. state of New Hampshire has held two seals since it declared its independence from Great Britain on January 5, 1776. While both seals have been retained, most people are only familiar with the Great Seal due to its corporate use.
The Great Seal of the State of New Mexico is the official seal of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is enshrined in Article V, Section 10, of the New Mexico State Constitution, which requires a state emblem to be kept by the secretary of state for official documents and other expressions of statehood. Rooted in the official seal of the New Mexico Territory established in 1851, it was adopted in 1913, one year after New Mexico was admitted as the 47th state.
The Great Seal of the State of Connecticut has been the coat of arms of the U.S. state of Connecticut since May 1784. It depicts three grapevines and a ribbon below with the Latin motto: Qui Transtulit Sustinet, with SIGILLUM REIPUBLICÆ CONNECTICUTENSIS in the border.
The seal of the Territory of Idaho was adopted in 1863 and redrawn several times before statehood in 1890. The first state Great Seal was designed in the 1890s by Emma Edwards Green, the only woman to design a U.S. state seal. That seal was used until 1957, when the seal was slightly redrawn by Paul B. Evans and the Caxton Printers, Ltd. at the request of the state government, in order to add more anthropocentric elements to the centered shield.
The Great Seal of the State of Ohio is the official insignia of the U.S. state of Ohio. All governmental offices, agencies, and courts in Ohio use variations of the state seal. Its primary feature is a circular coat of arms that depicts a sunrise in Chillicothe, Ohio's first capital, along with symbols of the state's origins. The seal sometimes appears with the state motto, "With God, All Things Are Possible".
The coat of arms of New South Wales is the official coat of arms of the Australian state of New South Wales. It was granted by royal warrant of King Edward VII dated 11 October 1906.
Hristofor Žefarović was an 18th-century painter, engraver, writer and poet and a notable proponent of early pan-South Slavism.
Heraldry in the United States was first established by European settlers who brought with them the heraldic customs of their respective countries of origin. As the use of coats of arms may be seen as a custom of royalty and nobility, it had been debated whether the use of arms is reconcilable with American republican traditions. Families from English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and other European nations with a heraldic tradition have retained their familial coat of arms in the United States. Several founding fathers also employed personal arms and a great number of Americans continue to do so.
The coat of arms of Vermont is the official armorial bearings of the U.S. state of Vermont. Most of the elements found in the coat of arms originate in the Great Seal of Vermont designed by Ira Allen. Whereas the Great Seal of Vermont is reproduced in a single color and is reserved for embossing and authenticating state documents, the coat of arms is a more naturalistic and colorful representation of many of the same elements. The coat of arms of Vermont was first used in 1807 on $5 banknotes of the Vermont State Bank. One of these notes is in the special collections of the Vermont History Center in Barre, Vermont. Prior to the discovery of the 1807 banknotes, the earliest representation of the coat of arms of Vermont was found on an engraved 1821 state military commissions. The exact designer is not known, but it is likely that then Secretary of State Robert Temple worked with an engraver in developing the arms. Considerable liberties were taken in early depictions of the coat of arms. The location of the cow and the sheaves moved about the foreground, and the height of the pine tree and size of the buck's head also varied. A state statute was approved in 1840, and modified in 1862, both attempts to codify and create more consistent representation of the arms. The coat of arms was cast in brass to ornament uniforms of Vermont's military regiments before, and through the U.S. Civil War, when individual states raised and trained their own regiments.
American Banknote Corporation, trading as ABCorp, is an American corporation providing contract manufacturing and related services to the authentication, payment and secure access business sectors. Its history dates back to 1795 as a secure engraver and printer, and assisting the newly formed First Bank of the United States to design and produce more counterfeit resistant currency. The company has facilities in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Vermont coppers were copper coins issued by the Vermont Republic. The coins were first struck in 1785 and continued to be minted until Vermont's admission to the United States in 1791 as the State of Vermont.
The seal of the vice president of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the U.S. vice president to other members of government, and is also used as a symbol of the vice presidency. The central design, directly based on the seal of the president of the United States, is the official coat of arms of the U.S. vice presidency and also appears on the vice presidential flag.
The coats of arms of the U.S. states are coats of arms, that are an official symbol of the state, alongside their seal. Eighteen states have officially adopted coats of arms. The former independent Republic of Texas and Kingdom of Hawaii each had a separate national coat of arms, which are no longer used.
In early 18th century Colonial America, engravers began experimenting with copper plates as an alternative medium to wood. Applied to the production of paper currency, copper-plate engraving allowed for greater detail and production during printing. It was the transition to steel engraving that enabled banknote design and printing to rapidly advance in the United States during the 19th century.
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