The Great Seal of the State of Ohio is the official insignia of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. 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". Shortly after its establishment in 1803, the state adopted a seal based on a sketch by Secretary of State William Creighton, Jr. Except for a brief period during the 1860s, the layout and details were left largely unregulated until a standardized

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

, based on the original design, was introduced in 1967. The coat of arms was modified most recently in 1996. Each of Ohio's 88 counties maintains its own official seal based on the state seal.

Design

The design of the Great Seal of the State of Ohio is defined in

Ohio Revised Code The ''Ohio Revised Code'' (ORC) contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments o ...

section 5.10: The coat of arms is defined in section 5.04: The hills shown in the seal are managed by the

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as Great Seal State Park. Ohio was the 17th state admitted to the United States of America, and that is reflected symbolically by the 17 arrows in the foreground of the seal.

History

Ohio's state seal has been redesigned at least ten times in the state's history. From 1805 to 1866, the seal's design was left unspecified, a situation unique among the states.

Territorial seal

Before Ohio's statehood, the territorial government of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

had its own seal. The

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

passed legislation on May 8, 1792, that directed the U.S. Secretary of State to "provide proper seals for the several and respective public offices in the orthwestTerritories". A seal was created by the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

to be used on official papers of the territory. The original seal was maintained by Governor Arthur St. Clair. Its first recorded use was in a proclamation made on July 26, 1788. The seal bears a Latin inscription, , "He has planted one better than the one fallen," commemorating the decline of wilderness to make way for civilization. says the young tree on the seal is an apple tree, while says it is a buckeye and perhaps the genesis of Ohio's nickname.

Rising sun

The first Constitution of Ohio, adopted on November 29, 1802, and effective March 1, 1803, provided for a state seal but left the details unspecified: The first Secretary of State, William Creighton, Jr., initially used his personal seal on official documents. Great Seal of Ohio actual view

On March 25, 1803, the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

passed an act concerning the duties of the Secretary of State, introducing the first of many designs for the state seal, based on a sketch by Creighton: The design was traditionally said to depict the view from U.S. Senator

Thomas Worthington Thomas or Tom Worthington may refer to: *Thomas Worthington (Douai) (1549–1627), English Catholic priest and third President of Douai College *Thomas Worthington (Dominican) (1671–1754), English Dominican friar and writer *Thomas Worthington (g ...

's Chillicothe-area estate, Belle View: in 1803, Creighton emerged from an all-night meeting at the estate and saw "the rising sun of the new state" just beyond Mount Logan. Creighton and Worthington both belonged to the " Chillicothe Junto" that dominated early state politics. However, most historians regard the story to be apocryphal, noting that the sun, mountains, and agricultural implements were common in seals of that era. Regardless, the present seal does represent the view from Worthington's estate, now known as Adena, as a matter of law. The physical seal of 1803 followed the adopted design loosely: from behind a full mountain range rose a sun with eyes.

Deregulation

On February 19, 1805, the 1803 statute was replaced with identical wording, except for the omission of a design for the great seal. The original state seal had long since fallen out of use. Despite the 1805 act being itself repealed on January 31, 1831, no replacement design was specified. Legislators neglected to address the issue even after the Constitution of 1851 left intact the constitutional requirement for a design. In the meantime, a wide array of designs emerged, particularly on court seals. Common embellishments included a plow and recumbent sheath of wheat, a range of mountains instead of a single peak (as in the Creighton seal), and an "ark" (a broad horn flatboat with a roof) floating on a river (understood to be the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

, quite a distance from Chillicothe). The 1847 seal depicted in the Statehouse rotunda skylight substitutes the Ohio with a canal, replete with a canal boat. In an 1860s version, the arrows levitate among the clouds. Besides artistic liberty, some seals reflected confusion over the state's founding year, which was popularly believed to be 1802, the year the original constitution was adopted.

Fleeting empire

In 1865, Secretary of State William Henry Smith issued a report on the need to reign in the seal's design. Though appreciative of the symbolism behind the 1803 design, he found the state's seal to compare unfavorably to other states' larger, more ornate seals, which also featured mottoes and obverse designs. On April 6, 1866, a Republican General Assembly responded, calling for an elaborate coat of arms: The act increased the size of the great seal to and added mandatory seals for various public officials at the state and county levels. Governor Jacob Dolson Cox issued a proclamation on November 5, 1866, that describes and bears the seal adopted that year. The Republicans' new motto was problematic, as it ironically recalled

states' rights In United States, American politics of the United States, political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments of the United States, state governments rather than the federal government of the United States, ...

just after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Moreover, the increased size, intricate design, and additional seals more than exhausted the $1,000 that had been appropriated to the Secretary of State (). An even larger budget overrun would have resulted from an amendment on April 16, 1867. On May 9, 1868, a newly elected Democratic General Assembly reverted to the 1803 coat of arms and formalized the depiction of a mountain range, present since Creighton's seal. The river remained in contemporary depictions. Despite the about-face, the 1866 device persisted in various capacities for decades. To the dismay of one historian, the Governor, Secretary of State, and Supreme Court all continued to seal documents with the 1866 device into the 1880s. The State Printer also published books featuring the old seal and motto into the 1900s. In 1889, stained glass seals of 42 states then in existence, including the 1866 Ohio seal, were hung in the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

Standardization

The coat of arms received a substantial revision in December 1967. Cincinnati-based interior decorator Robert Greiwe had been commissioned to paint the Great Seal on the

dropped ceiling A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, T-bar ceiling, false ceiling, suspended ceiling, grid ceiling, drop in ceiling, drop out ceiling, or ceiling tile ...

of the

Ohio Statehouse The Ohio Statehouse is the List of state and territorial capitols in the United States, state capitol building and seat of government for the U.S. state of Ohio. The Greek Revival building is located on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, ...

rotunda. His uncertainty over which version to paint led State Representatives Ralph B. Kohnen and Myrl Shoemaker to sponsor 107 HB 164, which standardized a specific design throughout state government. The river was reintroduced to the coat of arms, while seventeen distinct rays of sunlight extended to the perimeter of the coat of arms. Now the scene officially depicted the view from Adena. A reference image was for the first time included in the statute: Under the new legislation, the Governor was given authorization to regulate the seal's use. All new seals acquired after January 1, 1969, were required to bear the new design, and the requirement was extended to county and municipal governments for the first time. Many cities had already adopted seals that bore no relation to the state seal, but they were exempted under a grandfather clause. Though the physical Great Seal was also exempted, the Governor's office eventually replaced it with one that conformed to the new design. The latest modification, adopted November 20, 1996, reduced the number of rays from 17 to 13, "to represent the thirteen original colonies shining over the first state in the northwest territory". The reference image was also modified to include a small dot at the interior end of each ray. The bill's sponsor, Senator Roy Ray, argued that the number 17 was already present in the bundle of arrows. State agencies were given a deadline of March 1, 2003 the state bicentennial to update the seal on all publications. There were unsuccessful attempts in 1997, 1999, 2003, and 2011 to add the ''

Wright Flyer The ''Wright Flyer'' (also known as the ''Kitty Hawk'', ''Flyer'' I or the 1903 ''Flyer'') made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Wrigh ...

'' to the seal.125 HB 99
125th General Assembly.123 HB 17
123rd General Assembly.129 HB 309
129th General Assembly.

Usage

Section 5.10 of the

requires the seals of all "state, county, and municipal agencies, divisions, boards and commissions" to bear the state coat of arms. It also specifies the exact wording of the text surrounding the coat of arms of various courts and statewide elected offices. Notaries public are also required to incorporate the state coat of arms in their seals. Various state agencies, such as the Departments of

Transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

and Veterans Services, along with many cities, have developed more distinctive emblems and logos to complement their seals. The state coat of arms appears in the center of the flag of the governor of Ohio. This design was adopted unofficially in 1905 and officially in 1945. Previously, in 1860, state militia officials unsuccessfully proposed a state flag consisting of the seal upon a white field. From 2004 to 2010, the state's official coat of arms served as a backdrop for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles' "Sunburst"

license plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...

design, which was issued over a longer period than any other design since the 1980s. Since 2021, the full-color Artist's Version also appears in the background of the "Sunrise in Ohio" license plate design.

Variations

File:Seal of the Governor of Ohio.svg,

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, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

of the

governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

File:Seal of the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio.svg, Seal of the

lieutenant governor of Ohio The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes Governor of Ohio, governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed via impeachment conviction. Before 1852, the president of the Oh ...

File:Seal of the Ohio House of Representatives.svg, Seal of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

File:Seal of the Ohio Senate.svg, Seal of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...

File:Seal of the President of the Ohio Senate.svg, Seal of the president of the Ohio Senate File:Seal of the Supreme Court of Ohio.svg, Seal of the

Supreme Court of Ohio The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

File:Seal of Ohio Secretary of State.svg, Seal of the

secretary of state of Ohio The secretary of state of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the state of Ohio. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corporations, etc.) and granting them the autho ...

File:Seal of the Attorney General of Ohio.svg, Seal of the attorney general of Ohio File:Seal of the State Treasurer of Ohio.svg, Seal of the Ohio state treasurer File:Seal of the State Auditor of Ohio.svg, Seal of the Ohio state auditor File:Seal of the Inspector General of Ohio.svg, Seal of the inspector general of Ohio File:Seal of the Ohio Department of Agriculture.svg, Seal of the Ohio Department of Agriculture File:Seal of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.svg, Seal of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles File:Seal of the Ohio Department of Commerce.svg, Seal of the Ohio Department of Commerce File:Seal of the Ohio Department of Taxation.svg, Seal of the Ohio Department of Taxation File:Seal of the Ohio Commission on Hispanic and Latino Affairs.svg, Seal of the Ohio Commission on Hispanic and Latino Affairs File:OBM-Logo rgb 1000px-1000px.png, Seal of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management File:Seal of the Ohio Elections Commission.svg, Seal of the Ohio Elections Commission File:Seal of the Ohio Ethics Commission.svg, Seal of the Ohio Ethics Commission File:Seal of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.svg, Seal of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission File:Seal of the Ohio Consumers Counsel.svg, Seal of the Ohio consumers' counsel File:Seal of the Ohio Public Defender.svg, Seal of the Ohio public defender File:Seal of the Ohio Medical Board.svg, Seal of the Ohio Medical Board File:Seal of the County Auditors Association of Ohio.svg, Seal of the County Auditors' Association of Ohio File:Seal of the County Treasurers Association of Ohio.svg, Seal of the County Treasurers Association of Ohio File:Seal of Hubbard, Ohio.svg, Seal of the City of Hubbard File:Seal of Portsmouth, Ohio.svg, Seal of the City of Portsmouth File:Seal of Youngstown, Ohio.svg, Seal of the City of Youngstown File:Seal of Adams County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Adams County File:Seal of Columbiana County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Columbiana County File:Seal of Fairfield County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Fairfield County File:Seal of Franklin County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Franklin County File:Seal of Guernsey County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Guernsey County File:Seal of Hamilton County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Hamilton County File:Seal of Hancock County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Hancock County File:Seal of Highland County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Highland County File:Seal of Mahoning County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Mahoning County File:Seal of Ross County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Ross County File:Seal of Warren County (Ohio).svg, Seal of Warren County

References

External links

Section 5.04 of the Ohio Revised Code
(Lawriter) – defines the state coat of arms *

Section 5.10 of the Ohio Revised Code
(Lawriter) – defines the state seal {{Ohio

Symbols of Ohio

Symbols introduced in 1967 1967 establishments in Ohio