Seal of California

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Seal of California
Seal of California.svg
Details
Introduced 1849
Heraldic shield Minerva
Motto (motto) Eureka

The seal of the US state of California was designed by Robert S. Garnett and engraved by Albert Kuner . It was adopted by the California Constitutional Assembly in 1849 before becoming a state in 1850.

It was revised in 1937 without any changes in content.

description

The main character of the seal represents Minerva , the Roman goddess of wisdom. Since Minerva emerged directly from the brain of Jupiter as an adult, this is an indication that California was not territory until it became a state.

In front of Minerva is a grizzly bear , the official state animal and a symbol of strength and independence. He eats from an grapevine that the wine production is in California, while a bunch of cereal and a spade , the agriculture represent the country.

A gold prospector works with a pickaxe as a sign of the gold deposits on the left edge . Next to him are a gold pan and a seesaw, a construction that was common at the time for extracting gold from large amounts of sand during the Californian gold rush .

In the background you can see the Sacramento River and the snow-capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada . Various ships operate on the river since at the time the seal was created all export and import was by water.

The state motto Eureka ( Greek εὕρηκα, I have found ) is emblazoned above the mountains .

There are 31 stars around the curve of the inner ring. This is the number of states at the time California became a state ( 1850 ).

On the outer ring of the seal is the writing:

" The Great Seal of the State of California "
( The Great Seal of the State of California )

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