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The seal of Texas has changed 5 times since independence from Mexico in 1836. The original Great Seal of the Republic was created on December 10, 1836, by the Congress, with a bill providing that "for the future the national seal of this republic shall consist of a single star, with the letters 'Republic of Texas', circular on said seal, which seal shall also be circular".
Dec 6, 2020 · The reverse of the Texas state seal (above right) developed much later than the obverse. It was adopted in 1961, based on a design proposed by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. It consists of a shield surrounded by the six national flags that have flown over Texas. Atop the shield is the familiar lone star from which Texas derived its ...
This design is a slight modification of the Great Seal of the Republic of Texas, adopted by the Congress of the Republic, Dec. 10, 1836, and readopted with modifications in 1839. An official design for the reverse (back) of the seal was adopted by the 57th Legislature in 1961, but there were discrepancies between the written description and the ...
May 17, 2024 · The symbols of peace and strength were added to the original seal in 1839. Before Texas became the 28th state in 1845, the state seal of Texas was actually the republic seal. The word republic was removed and the word state added once statehood passed. Texas seceded from the United States in 1861 to join the confederate states, but was ...
- Office of The Secretary of State
- Foreword
- What Is A Seal?
- Obverse and Reverse of The Seal
- Coat of Arms
- Designing The Texas National and State Seals
- The 1992 Official Design
- Reverse of The State Seal
There shall be a Seal of the State which shall be kept by the secretary of state, and used by him officially under the direction of the governor. The Seal of the State shall be a star of five points, encircled by olive and live oak branches, and the words, "The State of Texas." — Texas Constitution, article IV, section 19.
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. Since revolutionary times, Texas has chosen the Lone Star as its symbol. Despite the fact that Texans were at war with the...
Definition and Uses
The basic definition of the word "seal" consists of three parts: (1) any block or piece of hard material, such as stone, brass, or steel, engraved with a device, figure, or symbol, in such a manner that it can, with the application of pressure, impart an impression in relief on a substance such as wax, moistened clay, or paper; (2) an impression so made; and (3) the substance bearing the impression. In other words, a seal is any one or all of three things: (1) the engraved die used to make th...
Some seals, such as the seals of the United States and the State of Texas, have both a front and a back. The front side of the seal is known as the obverse and is the only side used for impressing the seal on documents. The back side of the seal is known as the reverse. Historically the reverse of a seal was used for impression on the back side of ...
A coat of arms of a nation or state is usually the design or device of the obverse of its seal. It is an official emblem, mark of identification, and symbol of the authority of the government of a nation or state. A nation or state's coat of arms is oftentimes referred to as the national or state arms.
Arms of the United Mexican States
Texas was originally part of New Spain, in the province of Nueva Felipinas (New Philippines), and later part of Mexico, first in the Internal Eastern State (Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Texas), and second in the State of Coahuila and Texas. The Spanish royal seal was replaced by the Mexican seal, which consists of an eagle holding a serpent and standing on a cactus, encircled by wreaths of oak and olive. The seal of Coahuila and Texas was similar to the Mexican seal: 1. The seal shall contain, w...
Governor Henry Smith's Private Seal
Governor Henry Smith, the head of the Provisional Government of Texas established in November 1835, used his private seal on December 28, 1835, to seal an official document appointing John Forbes, Sam Houston, and John Cameron as commissioners to negotiate with various Indian tribes: "I Henry Smith Governor as aforesaid have hereunto set my hand and affixed my private seal, no seal of office being yet provided." Some historians speculate that the private seal Smith used was actually a button...
The 1836 "Peculiar Emblem"
On March 12, 1836, ten days after Texas declared independence from Mexico, the General Convention of the Texas Provisional Government adopted a resolution offered by George C. Childress, providing for "a single star of five points, either of gold or silver" as the "peculiar emblem" of the Republic. There is no known record that this emblem was ever used as an actual seal.
The Texas State Arms
By 1991, almost twenty different versions of the state seal were in use on state letterhead and publications. In response to the concerns of several state agencies about this lack of uniformity, Secretary of State John Hannah, Jr., appointed the Texas State Seal Advisory Committee to formulate recommendations on the design of the state seal. The members of this committee were Charles A. Spain, Jr., chair, Court of Appeals for the Third District of Texas; Donna D. Darling, cochair, Texas Water...
The 1961 Reverse of the Texas State Seal
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas proposed a design for the reverse of the state seal that was adopted by the Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Called Session. Governor Price Daniel approved this concurrent resolution on August 26, 1961. Sarah R. Farnsworth designed the art for the seal's reverse. This design was unusual because the legislature adopted the art itself as the reverse of the state seal, as opposed to the usual practice of adopting a description, or blazon, which is later re...
The Reverse of the Texas State Seal
The Seventy-Second Legislature modified the description of the reverse of the state seal as follows: 1. RESOLVED, That the design for the reverse side of the Great Seal of Texas shall consist of a shield, the lower half of which is divided into two parts; on the shield's lower left is a depiction of the cannon of the Battle at Gonzales; on the shield's lower right is a depiction of Vince's Bridge; on the upper half of the shield is a depiction of the Alamo; the shield is circled by live oak a...
Is It a Great Seal or Not?
Before 1993, the state seal was referred to in some laws as the "Great Seal of Texas." There was disagreement about whether this was correct because the constitution uses the terms "seal of the State" and "State seal," and because the Texas Supreme Court in 1846 defined the term "great seal" to mean the seal of a nation, as opposed to a state seal. In 1993, the Seventy-Third Legislature amended those laws that used the term "Great Seal of Texas" and substituted the term "state seal." It seems...
Apr 25, 2017 · Of these five watercolors, only the copy presented to the Texas Memorial Museum is known to exist. Standard Seal of Texas, Black and White. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. Reverse of the State Seal, 1961. Courtesy of Texas Secretary of State.
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What is a Texas State Seal?
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Did Texas cut a die for the obverse of their seals?
Texas State Seal. “There shall be a Seal of the State, which shall be kept by the Secretary of State, and used by him officially under the direction of the governor. The Seal of the State shall be a star of five points, encircled by olive and live oak branches, and the words, ‘The State of Texas’.”. Texas Constitution, article IV ...
