Iowa State Seal

Great Seal of the State of Iowa

Adopted in 1847.

One of the initial acts of the first Iowa Legislature in 1847 was to create the Great Seal of Iowa.

The two-inch diameter seal pictures a citizen soldier standing in a wheat field, surrounded by farming and industrial tools, with the Mississippi River in the background. An eagle is overhead, holding in its beak a scroll bearing the state motto, "Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain." The motto was the work of a three-man Senate committee and was incorporated into the design of the seal at their suggestion.

The Great Seal cannot be used without the permission of the Governor. The state seal is retained in the custody of and under the control of the Governor, who uses the seal for official documents and functions.

Iowa Code, 1A.1

1A.1 Seal--device--motto.

The secretary of state be, and is, hereby authorized to procure a seal which shall be the great seal of the state of Iowa, two inches in diameter, upon which shall be engraved the following device, surrounded by the words, "The Great Seal of the State of Iowa"--a sheaf and field of standing wheat, with a sickle and other farming utensils, on the left side near the bottom; a lead furnace and pile of pig lead on the right side; the citizen soldier, with a plow in his rear, supporting the American flag and liberty cap with his right hand, and his gun with his left, in the center and near the bottom; the Mississippi river in the rear of the whole, with the steamer Iowa under way; an eagle near the upper edge, holding in his beak a scroll, with the following inscription upon it: Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain.

Section History: Early form

[1GA, ch 112; C75, 77, 79, 81, § 1A.1]

Footnotes

Editor's Note: The Act of the First General Assembly of the State of Iowa creating the Great Seal, approved February 25, 1847, is hereby reproduced in the descriptive part.

There seem to be no further enactments, repeals or amendments and no codification of this law appears in the various Codes. See Annals of Iowa, Volume XI, pages 561, 576. Constitutional provision for a great seal is contained in Article IV, section 20 but no description is there provided.

State Seals

In days when communications were transcribed by hand and tediously undertaken, seals served to authenticate official government documents. In this day of computers and instant communications, seals still serve the same purpose.

great seal
noun

The principal seal of a government or state, with which official documents are are stamped as proof of having been approved or certified

Custom Search