Alabama State Seal

Great Seal of the State of Alabama

Designed in 1817;

Adopted in 1819;

Revise in 1868;

Original Restored in 1939.

The legislature and Governor Frank M. Dixon restored William Wyatt Bibb, Governor of the new Alabama territory original design of 1817 seal in 1939, and it has remained unchanged since.

In 1817 when William Wyatt Bibb was appointed Governor of the brand new Alabama territory, Bibb realized he needed an official seal for his commissions and other state papers. With permission of President Monroe and a law adopted by Congress, the territorial governor was authorized to select a design for a seal. Governor Bibb felt the best seal would be a map of the territory showing its rivers. It also showed the territories (now states) surrounding it.

By 1819, when Alabama became a state, the territorial seal was designated by the first legislature as the state seal. The state seal remained unchanged for 50 years, until the Reconstruction period when a Republican legislature abolished the seal and had a new seal made. It consisted of the shield of the United States seal and on the seal was an eagle. In the beak of the eagle was a scroll that had the words "Here We Rest". Around the new emblem were placed the words "Alabama Great Seal". This seal was used for 71 years to authenticate official documents and letterhead.

In 1939 a bill was introduced by the legislature to restore the original seal as the Great Seal of Alabama. When the bill came up it was approved unanimously by the Senate and the House. Governor Frank M. Dixon approved the new law and the Secretary of State had a new Great Seal created. Act no. 20.

Sources:
Acts of Alabama, 1876
Alabama State Emblems, Alabama Department of Archives and History, nd.   Section 1-2-4
Great Seal of the State.
The seal shall be circular, and the diameter thereof two and a quarter inches; near the edge of the circle shall be the word "Alabama," and opposite this word, at the same distance from the edge, shall be the words, "Great Seal." In the center of the seal there shall be a representation of a map of the state with its principal rivers. The seal shall be called the "Great Seal of the State of Alabama." The seal shall be kept and used as required by the Constitution and laws.

(Code 1876, §18; Code 1886, §18; Code 1896, §3727; Code 1907, §1994; Code 1923, §2932; Acts 1939, Ex. Sess., No. 20, p. 22; Code 1940, T. 55, §4.)