The Great Seal
The Constitutional Convention of 1849 adopted a
"Great Seal of the State of California." The seal was designed
by Major Robert Selden Garnett of the United States Army, and presented
to the convention by Caleb Lyon, one of the clerks of the convention.
The explanation accompanying the seal, as read to the convention on
October 2, 1849, is as follows:
"Around the bevel of the ring are represented
thirty-one stars being the number of states of which the union will
consist upon the admission of California.
"The foreground figure represents the Goddess
Minerva having sprung full grown from the brain of Jupiter. She is
introduced as a type of the political birth of the State of California
without having gone through the probation of a Territory. At her feet
crouches a grizzly bear feeding upon clusters from a grape vine
emblematic of the peculiar characteristics of the country. A miner is
engaged with a rocker and bowl at his side, illustrating the golden
wealth of the Sacramento upon whose waters are seen shipping typical of
commercial greatness and the Snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada make
up the background while above is the Greek motto "Eureka" (I
have found it) applying either to the principle involved in the
admission of the State, or the success of the miner at work."
An amendment adding the words, "The Great Seal of
the State of California," to the design was adopted on October 11,
1849.
This seal, as designed and submitted to the convention,
with some slight changes, has been made the official State Seal by
statue and is called "The Great Seal of the State of
California."
The design of the Great Seal of the State shall
correspond substantially with the above representation.
The Great Seal is located in the office of the Secretary
of State, where its impression is affixed to official state documents.
Any person who maliciously or for commercial purposes
uses or allows to be used any reproduction or facsimile of the Great
Seal or the seals of the Senate or Assembly of the State of California
in any manner whatsoever is guilty of a misdemeanor.
History and Seal courtesy of the Office of the
Secretary of State.
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