Great Seal of California

The Great Seal of the State of California
The Great Seal of the State of California, adopted by the state constitutional convention in 1849
Armiger	State of California
Adopted	1849 (followed by minor changes in 1883, 1891, and 1937)
Motto	Eureka

The Great Seal of the State of California was adopted at the

The original design of the seal was by U.S. Army major

The Great Seal, or the Great Seal of the State of California as it is officially called, is the impression made on "all commissions, pardons and other public instruments to which the signature of the Governor is required" with the attestation of the Secretary of State; the impression, with or without "wafer," is made by a master die and counter die of an officially adopted design fixed in a seal press capable of exerting great pressure upon the document placed between the two parts of the die; it is also the impression made by the Secretary of State on papers certified over his signature. For the Governor's papers the Great Seal serves the same purpose as a notarial seal on civil documents. This impression is the Great Seal. There have been many redesigns and reproductions of this seal – they are not the Great Seal but only reproductions of it in many forms, sizes and even colors.... There has been and is only one Great Seal, there have been many redesigns and reproductions of the seal – but there is only one Great Seal. There have been four designs and four master dies [1849, 1883, 1891, and 1937], all basically the same with variations in some minor details and in detail relations.

— J. N. Bowman (Historian, Central Record Depository), "The Great Seal of California", California Blue Book (Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1950), 162, 170

Legal definition

The legal definition of the Great Seal of the State of California is found in the California Government Code, Sections 399–405.^[1]

Original 1849 description

Around the bevel of the ring are represented thirty-one stars, being the number of the States of which the Union will consist, upon the admission of California. The foreground figure represents the goddess

Sierra Nevada make up the back-ground. Above, is the Greek motto "Eureka," (I have found it,) applying either to the principle involved in the admission of the State, or the success of the miners at work.

— Bayard Taylor

, "Bayard Taylor's Letters, No. XXVII – The Great Seal of the State of California", New York Weekly Tribune, 22 December 1849, 1

Although the waters were described in 1849 as being "of the Sacramento" and the mountains in the background as being "the snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada", other, very early descriptions referred to the body of water as San Francisco Bay.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In a letter to Lyon dated two days before the seal was approved by the convention, Garnett described the landscape as a "view of the Bay of San Francisco and its vessels",^[7] and in 1899, Garnett's brother referred to the mountain as Mount Diablo,^[8] supports Robert's view, if Minerva is placed in San Francisco and 'up' is toward the east.

In 1928, due to the number of incorrect details that had appeared in the seal over the years, with the earliest being pointed out as in 1914^[9]), state printer Carroll H. Smith was authorized to prepare a new and correct seal.^[10] This seal was drawn by Los Angeles heraldic artist Marc J. Rowe who, among other corrections, narrowed the growing break in the mountains so that it appeared to be the Sacramento River, "fringed by snow-capped Sierra, and not an arm of San Francisco Bay, as the old seal made it appear".^[11] San Franciscans considered this change to be "a slight on their city in favor of Los Angeles".^[12] His design was not adopted as the official seal,^[13] although it was used by the State Printing Office. Nine years later, the 1937 standardized seal once again featured a widened gap of Golden Gate proportions, although it did keep Rowe's snow-capped Sierra Nevada that had replaced the barren foothills of previous editions of the seal. Both features have stayed in the official seal.

The 1937 standardization came about when state employees, wishing to print the seal on blotters for the State Fair, could not find any official design of the seal. This prompted a new law (Statutes of California, 1937, chapter 380), which "established for the first time a definite pictured design with which the master die was 'substantially' to conform, and at the same time established the legality of all previous seals which were essentially the same as this one."^[13]

The full color version, accepted as official, was created in 1978 by Jane Van Doren, Graphic Artist for the California State Printing Office (now the California Office of State Publishing). The location of the original painting is unknown.

Popular Beliefs and Urban Legends

Depiction of Fort Point

In the 1937 standardized seal there is a building on the far left rear hill that has been interpreted in a variety of ways. The building, along with the break in the mountains, may have been added to give San Francisco Bay a stronger claim on its location being the landscape portrayed in the seal.

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  A circa 1888 image of Fort Point for comparison with representations of the fort on the following renditions of the Seal of California
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  An 1875 image from a sample book by San Francisco lithographer Grafton Tyler Brown
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  California State Letterhead (1886): Printed by a San Francisco lithographer
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  James Lick Pioneer Monument, San Francisco (1894)
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  So-called Dollar HK-249: Issued for the 1894 Midwinter Fair held in San Francisco. Notice the lighthouse and flagpole which appear in the circa 1888 image of the actual fort.
• 
  1895 cigar box label from an Oakland manufacturer
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  Spanish–American War flag at the California State Archives, Sacramento (c. 1898): Given to American soldiers on their way to the Philippines via the Presidio in San Francisco

However, the structure was given an apparent dome in the 1895 edition of the California Blue Book,^[18] and it was in this configuration that the building appeared in the 1937 standardization of the official seal. Fort Point has no dome, and it is unknown what building the 1895 artist was attempting to portray.^[19] Two years later, Harold F. Wilson, in his interpretation created for the old State Building in Los Angeles (now located inside the Ronald Reagan State Building in that city), retained the dome.^[20] In 1952, the structure, again with dome, was cast in bronze in the large seal at the west steps of the California State Capitol in Sacramento.^[21]

Versions of the Building with a Dome

• 
  California Blue Book (1895). The building is identical here to the way it appears in the 1937 standardized seal.
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  Ronald Reagan State Building, Los Angeles (1939)
• 
  On the west steps of the California State Capitol, Sacramento (1952)

There is a widespread rumor that the building in the seal found in front of the State Capitol had never appeared in any previous incarnation of the seal, and was meant to represent the chapel at

Resources Agency Building (1964)

San Quentin State Prison

A possible source of the rumor

The source of this story is unknown, although it is possibly related to the large seal attached to the Resources Building in downtown Sacramento, placed in 1964, four years before the earliest known reference to the rumor in 1968.^[27] This seal features what appears to be two structures combined into one. The right half somewhat resembles the front gates of San Quentin State Prison has been said to resemble Folsom State Prison's Greystone Chapel. It is unknown why the artist chose this depiction. If the artist did mean for the building to be San Quentin and Folsom prisons, the rumor being mistakenly attached to the seal in front of the Capitol may have stemmed from a confusion of the two seals, which are blocks away from each other.^[28] A postcard dated 2000 shows an image of the State Capitol at night, with an inset image of the seal. The seal used is the one on the Resources Building. The official color scheme for the seal (e.g., "the spear of Minerva shall be Oakwood, Cable No. 70094 and the tip white"), passed in 1967—thirty years after the structure was officially added—does not mention the building.^[29]

Other interpretations of the building
Because there is no official designation of the identity of the building, artists have interpreted the building in a number of ways.

• 
  San Mateo County History Museum, Redwood City (1910)
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  Veteran's Welfare Bond (1925): Here the building looks somewhat like the old State Capitol in Benicia.
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  Above the entrance to the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park, this 1926 seal places the building behind Minerva.
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  Room 500, Library and Courts I, Sacramento (c. 1928)
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  Marc J. Rowe's redesign (1928)
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  Berkeley Veterans Memorial Building (1928)
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  Division of Motor Vehicles inspector's badge (c. 1921–1931) in the collection of the CHP Museum in West Sacramento
• 
  The reproduction of the medal the Los Angeles-based Helms Bakery won in 1934, showing a building that looks like the Los Angeles Harbor Light, which may explain the location of the structure on an island, away from its usual spot on the mainland, similar to the light house
• 
  Lucile Lloyd Mural in Room 4203, California State Capitol, Sacramento (1937)
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  East Entrance, California State Capitol, Sacramento (1950): Here in the O. C. Malmquist panels, the building takes on more of a Spanish mission look, exchanging the dome for a similarly shaped curved roof line.
• 
  State Personnel Board, Sacramento (1954): After more than fifty years, is this interpretation meant to be a return to Fort Point? Despite the difference in design from the previous image, this seal was also created by O. C. Malmquist.
• 
  California State Archives, Sacramento (c. 1956): Another possible throwback to Fort Point?
• 
  1304 O Street, Sacramento (1960): Many seals found on state buildings from approximately 1960-1980 do not show the building, which might explain why the 1967 official color scheme makes no mention of it.
• 
  California State Archives, Sacramento (1966): Artist Mrs. Pine L. Eisfeller used 87,000 tiny beads to create this seal.
• 
  Elihu M. Harris State Building, Oakland (1998): Although this example is from twenty years later, this style of building had been in use as early as 1978.^[30]
• 
  Vietnam Memorial, Capitol Park, Sacramento (1988)
• 
  Family Law Court, downtown Riverside (1998): The artist of this seal may have based his interpretation of the building on the Peace Tower found on Mount Rubidoux, a local Riverside landmark.
• 
  Hiram Johnson State Building, San Francisco (c. 1998): The building on this seal, in the building's auditorium, looks somewhat like one of the city's famous painted ladies Victorian homes.
• 
  Governor's Office Reception Area Carpet, California State Capitol, Sacramento (c. 1999)
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  CalTrans District 7 HQ, Los Angeles (2004): Another unusual interpretation
• 
  B. F. Sisk Courthouse, Fresno (c. 2010)
• 
  DMV, First Avenue, Sacramento (Present day two-tone)
• 
  Department of Education, Sacramento (Present day full color): The building has taken on more of a tower rather than a dome.

Conflation with County Seal

With cross, 1957–2004

With Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, 2004–2014, 2016–present

Two versions of the Seal of the County of Los Angeles

Another rumor associated with the Great Seal of the State of California is that it once featured a cross which had since been removed. The source of this story is most likely a confusion of the state seal and its supposed chapel with the

In 2004, the

In his 2001 book, Maritime Tragedies on the

The number of stars

Seals found in government buildings have been known to contain errors: a thirty-eight star seal was on display at the San Diego County courthouse from 1889 until its demolition in 1959—seventy years

B. F. Sisk Courthouse in Fresno, the Senator Alfred E. Alquist State Building in San Jose, the Justice Joseph A. Rattigan

State Building in Santa Rosa, and the Van Nuys State Office Building in Van Nuys.

An incorrect number of stars had been a widespread problem for some time; "Numerous reproductions of the seal are found in well-known books and other widely circulated printed matter which show thirty-two stars instead of thirty-one", wrote the Los Angeles Times in 1937.^[41] In 1914, seals were found to have as few as eleven, and as many as thirty-eight, stars.^[9] A version of the seal showing thirty-eight stars appeared on the title page of the 1887, 1889, 1893, 1895 (the 1895 edition also showed a thirty-two star on page 299^[18]), and 1899 editions of the California Blue Book, a publication of the Office of the Secretary of State, who is the custodian of the Great Seal. No seal appeared on the title page of the 1903 or 1907 editions. A thirty-one star seal was used in the 1909 edition, but the publication went back to thirty-eight stars in 1911 and 1915, then settled on thirty-one in 1924.

One notable occurrence of a seal with an incorrect number of stars being shown occurred in 2011, when live television coverage of the

Conrad Murray trial went to break. A seal, most likely located in the courthouse where the trial took place, was shown, and it was soon discovered that this seal had thirty-two stars instead of the proper thirty-one. This error was interpreted by some as an intentional clue that the trial was a hoax, Michael Jackson was still alive, and had faked his own death.^[42][43]

Various numbers of stars on various seals

• 
  Thirteen star seal, Senate Secretary's Desk, California State Capitol, Sacramento
• 
  Twenty-one star seal, Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building, Sacramento
• 
  Twenty-six star seal, Hiram Johnson State Building auditorium, San Francisco
• 
  Twenty-nine star California Governor's Seal, which should have thirty-one, as the state seal does, California State Capitol, Sacramento
• 
  Twenty-nine star seal on the reverse of a Series 1882BB National Bank Note
• 
  Twenty-nine star seal on the B.F. Sisk Courthouse in Fresno
• 
  Thirty-two star seal, 1895 California Blue Book, page 299
• 
  Thirty-three star seal above the entrance to the 1926

  Balboa Park
• 
  Thirty-eight star seal, 1895 California Blue Book, title page
• 
  Thirty-eight star seal, 1889 San Diego County courthouse

Controversies and other issues

Vallejo's, Lyon's, and Garnett's roles in the creation of the Seal

During the 1849 Constitutional Convention debate on the design of the seal, the bear was added to satisfy Major J.R. Snyder and the men of the

Californio Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, former head of the Mexican military in California, but a friend of the United States. He introduced an amendment to remove the bear, or, if it were to remain, that it be held fast by a vaquero's lasso. The amendment failed.^[44]

In February 1850, the Daily Alta California of San Francisco accused Lyon of taking the $1000 appropriated to him by the convention for the purpose of securing a die and press, but giving a marred design, a die sunk too shallow, and an insufficiently powerful press for the job in return. The editorial continued that Lyon "received his money out of the civil fund, and is now conveying it to the sylvan retreats of Lyonsdale" and quite vehemently stated that Lyon had "no right or title to the honor of either designing or executing the seal any more than the Kha[n] of Tartary" while still protecting the anonymity of Garnett.^[45] However, the fact that Garnett was chiefly responsible for the design was known by at least one observer of the convention at the time and generally known no later than December 1849.^[46]

Controversy arose again in 1899 with an article in the San Francisco Chronicle that claimed that Garnett's design was not original, but in fact based upon the seal of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows' California Lodge No. 1, with a few changes.^[47] This article was soon followed by a defense of the originality of the design written by Major Garnett's brother, Louis A. Garnett, who claimed that the timing of the creation of and differences between the two seals made it impossible for the state seal to have been based on the lodge seal.^[8] Despite this, the Grand Lodge of California continues to make this claim,^[48] and an I.O.O.F. historian has suggested that perhaps Garnett in fact designed both seals.^[49]

Contention within the state government over the use and design of the Seal

The Golden Gate Bridge found its way onto this seal

The motto, "Eureka," spelled with Greek letters

The two "errors" in the seal pointed out by Secretary of State Frank M. Jordan to State Architect Anson Boyd in 1958

In 1855, conflict arose over the seal between Governor

Denver, Colorado, was named), left for Washington, D.C., on October 5, but his resignation was not effective until November 5. Bigler asked for an immediate resignation and threatened to declare the office vacant and appoint a new Secretary of State if this request was refused. In the same letter, he also requested that the Great Seal be kept in the Governor's Office. Denver refused the request, as it would be impossible for him to fulfill his duties without it, and cited the fact that the seal had always been kept in the possession of the Secretary of State. On October 6, Bigler appointed his private secretary, C.H. Hempstead, to the office, and, accompanied by two witnesses, went to the office of the Secretary of State to have the appointment certified. Denver's deputy refused to certify, as he argued that the office would not be vacated until November 5, the effective date of Denver's resignation. It was not until that date that Hempstead's appointment was finally certified.^[50]

In 1958, a disagreement arose between Secretary of State Frank M. Jordan and

State Architect Anson Boyd over the design of the seal being used on state buildings in Sacramento. One seal showed the Golden Gate Bridge crossing over the gap in the mountains, and another spelled "Eureka" in Greek letters.^[51] Assistant State Architect P.T. Poage explained that the Division of Architecture "had considered making a model of the seal" in order to "keep the architects from making improvements."^[52] Jordan responded by promising to "sponsor legislation in 1959 to provide greater protection on use of the seal."^[53]

Symbols in the Seal and the Seal as a symbol

A few days after the

Other protests on the Capitol steps have used the seal as a rallying point: in 1960, a group picketing the execution of Caryl Chessman gathered around the seal and said, "blame our leaders,"^[56] in 1967 signs reading "I Protest" and "Thou Shalt Not Kill" were left on the seal to protest the execution of Aaron Mitchell,^[57] later that year a black casket representing "the living dead farm worker" was the centerpiece of a "funeral" march and placed atop the seal for an all-night vigil,^[58] and in 1990 the seal was marked with handprints of red paint by members of ACT UP, protesting possible state health care cuts.^[59]

Errors in the Seal

An early 1900s envelope, reportedly sent by the state to a newspaper editor, bore a copy of the seal missing the bear.^[60]

In 1982, after a year-long probe, a $300,000-plus counterfeiting ring was busted in Los Angeles by

This was followed in 1988 by the discovery that on a number of documents printed by the state printing office, Minerva's face had taken on the look of Snoopy, the beagle of Peanuts cartoon fame. The error was first discovered in the Department of Corrections newsletter, printed by prison labor, and so it was first suspected to be a prank by the inmates. It was later revealed that the source of the error was a worn printing plate, and so was not intentional.^[63]

While most errors on the seal are unintentional, at least one was done "on porpoise": the staff of Assemblyman Jerry Lewis once ordered a birthday cake for their boss with a California seal on it, but it was "the kind that has flippers, swims in the ocean and eats fish."^[64]

Examples of the Seal

Sacramento

The seal can be seen in its various incarnations near the entrances of a number of state buildings in downtown Sacramento, including the State Capitol (as well as several inside of the Capitol, including an 1854 carving and a 1908 stained glass "sky" light), Stanley Mosk Library and Courts I (within the

• 
  1908 "sky" light seal in the California State Capitol
• 
  1964 seal (one of two) on display at the Resources Agency Building
• 
  The James W. Marshall monument in Coloma

San Francisco Bay Area

It can also be seen in mosaic on the second floor of

• 
  Minerva stands atop the James Lick Pioneer Monument in San Francisco
• 
  The very large seal at the CPUC building in San Francisco
• 
  At the base of the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt monument in Sonoma
• 
  Seal at the Circle of Palms Plaza in San Jose

Southern California

A large bronze seal, installed in 1939, was for many years located in front of the First Street entrance to the old State Building in Los Angeles until the structure was torn down in the 1970s.

Above the bench in Courtroom #1 of the

• 
  A state seal is featured among the six seen here at the Los Angeles County Law Library
• 
  From the Helms Bakery building in Culver City
• 
  From the Family Law Court in downtown Riverside
• 
  In front of the old San Diego Central Public Library
• 
  1915 seal on the California Building in Balboa Park, San Diego
• 
  Obverse of 1936 California Pacific International Exposition Commemorative Half-Dollar
• 
  From a tablet presented to the cruiser California by the Native Daughters of the Golden West in 1907

Outside of California

Artistic renditions of the seals of the seven states of the Colorado River basin are included in the Oskar J.W. Hansen-designed dedication plaza at Hoover Dam. California's is in the center, directly below a large American bald eagle, and is the only seal with supporters: two California grizzly bears.

The historic

• 
  J.W. Hansen's artistic rendition of the seal at Hoover Dam's Dedication Plaza
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  A blueprint of the seal in the Decatur House in Washington, D.C.
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  1857 seal once located in the ceiling of the U.S. House of Representatives
• 
  1897 seal in the Library of Congress
• 
  The seal in glass at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, England, U.K.
• 
  The seal can be seen carved into the floor of the temple area of the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines

Other uses of the Seal

In 1862, the

• 
  San Jose State University's historic Seal, from its days as a California State College
• 
  Seal of the City of Eureka
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  Seal of the City of Long Beach
• 
  Seal of the County of Alpine
• 
  The California State Governor's Flag
• 
  CHP Shield

In 1969, the appearance of the seal on state-owned cars parked in unexpected places was used by concerned Californians to identify public vehicles, financed by taxpayers, being used for non-official duties. Observed examples included a vehicle parked at a Lake Tahoe casino and "a man, woman, and several children piling out of a state owned car and into a movie theatre at 3 p.m."^[75]

As the "signature" of California, the seal has also been used for less-than-solemn purposes, including poking fun at the state's problems. In 1967, soon after Ronald Reagan's inauguration as governor, the Sacramento Bee ran an editorial cartoon showing an overweight Minerva and bear, representing bloated state government, doing toe-touching exercises as Reagan, dressed as an athletics coach, calls out, "Squeeze, Cut, Trim – Squeeze, Cut, Trim."

• 
  Seal of the governor of California
• 
  Seal of the California State Assembly
• 
  Seal of the California State Senate
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  Seal of the

  California state controller
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  Seal of the

  California state treasurer
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  Seal of the Supreme Court of California
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  Seal of the

  California Department of Boating and Waterways
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  Seal of the California Department of Education
• 
  Seal of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
• 
  Seal of the

  California Department of Parks and Recreation

External links

• California State Archives: Long Description for the Great Seal of the State of California Archived November 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
• California State Capitol Museum: California Symbols
• California State Library: State Symbols Archived January 5, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• John Allen: "Peculiarly Appropriate": The Great Seal of the State of California
• Netstate.com: The Great Seal of California

References