Seal of Georgia (U.S. state)
| Great Seal of the State of Georgia | |
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Reverse
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Historical coat of arms (1876)
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| Details | |
| Armiger | State of Georgia |
| Adopted | 1777 (original) 1914 (current) |
| Motto | State of Georgia, 1776 (obverse) Agriculture and Commerce, 1776 (reverse) |
The Great Seal of the State of Georgia is a device that has historically been used to authenticate government documents executed by the state of Georgia. The first great seal of the state was specified in the State Constitution of 1777, and its current form was adopted in 1914. Its specifications are currently spelled out by statute.
The obverse (front) of the seal is centered on the coat of arms of the state: an arch with three columns, the arch symbolizing the state's Constitution and the columns representing the three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial). The words of the official state motto, "Wisdom, Justice, Moderation," are inscribed on scrolls that are wrapped around the columns. A man (possibly a soldier from the American Revolution) stands between the second and third columns, holding a drawn sword in his right hand, representing the military's defense of the Constitution. A border surrounds the coat of arms, and the motto "State of Georgia, 1776" is inscribed outside the arms.
The reverse (back) of the seal contains an image of Georgia's coast, with a ship (bearing the American flag) arriving to take aboard tobacco and cotton, symbolizing Georgia's export trade. A second, smaller boat represents the state's "internal traffic." Towards the left of the image, there is a man plowing and a flock of sheep. The motto "Agriculture and Commerce, 1776" is inscribed around the outside of the image.
The dates listed on the obverse and reverse of the seal were originally 1799. The dates were changed by the Georgia state legislature in 1914 to reflect the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
By law, the Secretary of State is the official custodian of the Great Seal, which is attached to official papers by executive order of the Governor. This custodianship has led to some controversies:
In 1902, the Georgia legislature mandated that the coat of arms (the central portion of the obverse) be included in the state flag of Georgia. Either the coat of arms or the state seal has appeared on every state flag since that date.
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