The Great Seal of Canada (french: Grand Sceau du Canada) is a governmental

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

used for purposes of state in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, being set on letters patent, proclamations and commissions, both to representatives of the monarch and for the appointment of

cabinet ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

, senators, and judges. Many other officials, such as officers in the Canadian Armed Forces, receive commissions affixed with the Privy Seal, not the great seal. It is not for sealing up a document as

letters close __NOTOC__ Letters close ( la, litterae clausae) are a type of obsolete legal document once used by the Pope, the British monarchy and by certain officers of government, which is a sealed letter granting a right, monopoly, title, or status to an i ...

. As a de facto symbol of Canada the seal is one of the oldest and most honoured instruments of the Canadian government.

History

The first Great Seal of Canada was carved in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and sent to Canada to replace a temporary seal which had been used since

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

in 1867. On the great seal assigned to Canada in 1869, the arms of each of the original provinces—

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Québec, and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

—were shown separately, two on each side of the figure of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

seated beneath a canopy. In view of the intended tour of Canada by George VI in 1939 as King of Canada, the federal parliament passed an act to let the Great Seal of Canada be used for functions that had previously been carried out by the king in London using the

Great Seal of the United Kingdom The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom (known prior to the Treaty of Union of 1707 as the Great Seal of England; and from then until the Union of 1801 as the Great Seal of Great Britain) is a seal that is used to sym ...

—such as the issuing of an instrument of ratification for an international treaty—but were to be performed by the King while in Canada. This contrasted with the 1931 External Great Seal of the Irish Free State and 1934 Royal Great Seal of South Africa, which also replaced the use of the UK Great Seal on diplomatic documents, but were in each case separate from the pre-existing domestic Great Seal. The 1939 change was described by the tour's official historian as establishing a new official procedure "which asserted and recognized Canada's equality of political status within the British Empire."

Appearance

Dies (seal-making devices) for old seals are destroyed whenever a new

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

takes the throne. The current great seal was designed by artist Eric Aldwinckle and made at the

Royal Canadian Mint }) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufacture ...

when Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

succeeded her father in 1952 and it went into use on 14 November 1955. The seal die is made of specially tempered steel, weighs 3.75 kilograms (8.27 pounds), and is 127 millimetres (5

inches Measuring tape with inches The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth") ...

) in diameter. The image depicts the Queen enthroned on the coronation chair and robed, holding the orb and

sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The '' Was'' and other ...

, and the 1957 version of the Royal

Arms of Canada The Arms of Canada (french: Armoiries du Canada, links=no), also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada (french: armoiries royales du Canada, links=no) or formally as the Arms of His Majesty the King in Right of Canada (french: Armoiries de Sa M ...

in front. Around the perimeter is inscribed ''REINE DU CANADA—ELIZABETH II—QUEEN OF CANADA''. Previous Great Seals of Canada were inscribed in Latin. While the

governor general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

is the keeper of the Great Seal, the Queen's representative places it in the protection of the

Registrar General of Canada The registrar general of Canada (french: registraire général du Canada) is responsible for registering all letters patent, commissions, instruments, proclamations, and any other documents that may, from time to time, be issued under the Great Se ...

. Each of the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

has its own unique great seal for similar purposes, which is used by the lieutenant governor of the province and kept by the provincial attorney general. File:Great Seal of Canada - Queen Victoria.jpg, The Great Seal in the reign of Queen Victoria File:Great Seal of Canada - King George V.jpg, The Great Seal in the reign of King George V File:Great Seal of Canada.png, The present great

, for Queen Elizabeth II, used since 1955 File:Proclamation of the National Flag of Canada (January 1965).jpg, The royal proclamation of the flag of Canada, bearing an impression of the great seal at lower left

Inscriptions on the Great Seal

Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. SIGILLUM Ÿ PROVINCIÆ Ÿ NOSTRÆ Ÿ QUEBECENSIS Ÿ IN Ÿ AMERICA

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. VICTORIA D꞉ G꞉ BRITANIARUM REGINA FID꞉ DEF꞉ SIGILLUM PROVINCIÆ CANADÆ

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. VICTORIA DEI GRATIA BRITANNIAR꞉ REGINA F꞉ D꞉ IN CANADA SIGILLUM *

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

. EDWARDUS VII D꞉ G꞉ BRITT ET TERRARUM TRANSMAR QUÆ IN DIT꞉ SUNT BRIT REX F꞉ D꞉ IND꞉ IMP꞉ IN CANADA SIGILLUM 1904 *

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

. GEORGIUS V D꞉ G꞉ BRITT ET TERRARUM TRANSMAR QUÆ IN DIT꞉ SUNT BRIT REX F꞉ D꞉ IND꞉ IMP꞉ IN CANADA SIGILLUM 1912 *

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

. GEORGIUS VI D꞉ G꞉ MAG BRIT HIB ET TERR TRANSMAR QUÆ IN DIT꞉ SUNT BRIT REX F꞉ D꞉ IND꞉ IMP꞉ IN CANADA SIGILLUM *

. REINE DU CANADA • ELIZABETH II • QUEEN OF CANADA

Legal status

Like the

in respect of the Crown in right of that country, the Great Seal of Canada is the chief seal of the Crown of Canada, and is used to show the Canadian monarch's approval of important state documents. The sovereign acts on the advice of the government of the day. The Canadian Great Seal is used not only for administrative purposes, but also ceremonially, when it is put into the custody of a new governor general as part of the customary swearing-in and installation procedure. It is protected under the Security of Information Act, Section 5(2)(e) stating: "Every person who, without lawful authority or excuse, manufactures or sells, or has in his possession for sale, any die, seal or stamp referred to in subsection (1) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years or by summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 12 months or to a fine of not more than $2,000."

References

External links

Symbols of Canada: The Great Seal of Canada

Governor General of Canada: The Great Seal of Canada (archived)

Governor General's Installation (5), Ceremonial delivery of the Great Seal, at 1.15-2.40 mins

Warrant granting Armorial Bearings for the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and a Great Seal for the Dominion of Canada

Canada Gazette The ''Canada Gazette'' (french: Gazette du Canada) is the official government gazette of the Government of Canada. It was first published on October 2, 1841. While it originally published all acts of the Parliament of Canada, it later also publ ...

, volume 3, number 22, 27 November 1869, page 361 {{Canadian royal symbols

National symbols of Canada Monarchy in Canada Constitution of Canada

History

Appearance

Inscriptions on the Great Seal

Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Legal status

See also

References

External links