Seal of Ohio

Seal of Ohio
Versions
An imitation of the Artist's Version
Details
Armiger	State of Ohio
Adopted	1996 (current form)
Earlier versions	Many, starting 1803
Use	State government offices and letterheads, driver's licenses

Coat of arms of the State of Ohio
Details
Armiger	State of Ohio
Adopted	1953 (current form in 1996)
Use	State and local government offices, older license plates

The Great Seal of the State of Ohio is the official insignia of the U.S. state of Ohio. 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, 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 and flag.

The design of the Great Seal of the State of Ohio is defined in Ohio Revised Code section 5.10:

The great seal of the state shall be two and one-half inches in diameter and shall consist of the coat of arms of the state within a circle having a diameter of one and three-fourths inches, surrounded by the words "THE GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE OF OHIO" in news gothic capitals.

The coat of arms is defined in section 5.04:

The coat of arms of the state shall consist of the following device: a circular shield; in the right foreground of the shield a full sheaf of wheat bound and standing erect; in the left foreground, a cluster of seventeen arrows bound in the center and resembling in form the sheaf of wheat; in the background, a representation of Mount Logan, Ross county, as viewed from Adena state memorial; over the mount, a rising sun three-quarters exposed and radiating thirteen rays to represent the thirteen original colonies shining over the first state in the northwest territory, the exterior extremities of which rays form a semicircle; and uniting the background and foreground, a representation of the Scioto river and cultivated fields.