State Symbols

State Seal

Posted at August 18, 2006 09:37

By John Fisher

Missouri adopted its first symbol, the stateseal, after Gov. Alexander McNair urged the legislature to fulfill its constitutional obligation to design an official seal. The legislature appointed a committee, and the committee’s design, with some modifications from the legislature, was adopted and signed by McNair January 11, 1822.

While no official record names the designer of the seal, Robert William Wells is accepted as the designer based on a letter he wrote that was published in a Jefferson City newspaper in 1847.

The designer chose elements to represent the state. The crescent moon indicated the state was new and growing, and the grizzly bears represented strength and power. Early settlers and explorers thought the bear was unique to the Missouri River valley and its tributaries. Twenty-four stars indicated that Missouri was the twenty-fourth state admitted to the United States. The helmet under the stars represented the state’s sovereignty. The perpendicular line to the left of the U.S. arms showed that while Missouri was part of the whole, its government was separate for some purposes. The seal also contains the Latin state motto, “Salus populi suprema lex esto,” which means “Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.”

The legislation establishing the seal stated that its design was never to be changed. However, a fire at the capitol in 1837 destroyed the original seal. The second engraving was of poor quality and introduced several changes. The solid band in the original design containing the words “United We Stand and Divided We Fall” became a belt with a buckle at the bottom. The bears evolved from fuzzy, youthful-appearing creatures into larger, more maturelooking animals turned three-quarters inward instead of facing the viewer. This engraving remained in use only until 1840.

The third engraving, much better in quality, was taken out of the state during the Civil War by Lieutenant Governor Thomas Reynolds, who became governor when Claiborne Jackson died in 1861. Reynolds maintained a government in exile in Marshall, Texas. A fourth engraving was made to replace the one Reynolds removed from the state, although he returned the seal to the state following the war. Each of these additional engravings introduced some changes, but no further changes have been made in desig.

The secretary of state is the custodian of the seal, which is two and one-half inches wide and is used by the secretary of state to make an impression on official state documents.

February 2006

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