Great Seal of California facts for kids

The Great Seal of California was adopted at the California state Constitutional Convention of 1849. It has had some minor changes since then. The last change was in 1937.

Some of the things seal shows are the Roman goddess Minerva, the word Eureka (which is the California state motto), the words "The Great Seal of the State of California", and a California grizzly bear.

Images for kids

California historical coat of arms (illustrated, 1876)
1849 illustration of the Seal of California that accompanied Bayard Taylor's description
Modern day full-color illustration of the Seal of California
Marc J. Rowe's interpretation of the Seal of California
An interpretation of the steamship as a sidewheeler
An interpretation of the steamship as a screw steamer
A circa 1888 image of Fort Point for comparison with representations of the fort on the following renditions of the Seal of California
An 1875 image from a sample book by San Francisco lithographer Grafton Tyler Brown
California State Letterhead (1886): Printed by a San Francisco lithographer
James Lick Pioneer Monument, San Francisco (1894)
So-called Dollar HK-249: Issued for the 1894 Midwinter Fair held in San Francisco. Notice the lighthouse and flagpole which appear in the circa 1888 image of the actual fort.
1895 cigar box label from an Oakland manufacturer
Spanish–American War flag at the California State Archives, Sacramento (c. 1898): Given to American soldiers on their way to the Philippines via the Presidio in San Francisco
California Blue Book (1895). The building is identical here to the way it appears in the 1937 standardized seal.
Ronald Reagan State Building, Los Angeles (1939)
On the west steps of the California State Capitol, Sacramento (1952)
San Mateo County History Museum, Redwood City (1910)
Veteran's Welfare Bond (1925): Here the building looks somewhat like the old State Capitol in Benicia.
Above the entrance to the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park, this 1926 seal places the building behind Minerva.
Room 500, Library and Courts I, Sacramento (c. 1928)
Marc J. Rowe's redesign (1928)
Berkeley Veterans Memorial Building (1928)
Division of Motor Vehicles inspector's badge (c. 1921–1931) in the collection of the CHP Museum in West Sacramento
The reproduction of the medal the Los Angeles-based Helms Bakery won in 1934, showing a building that looks like the Los Angeles Harbor Light, which may explain the location of the structure on an island, away from its usual spot on the mainland, similar to the light house
Lucile Lloyd Mural in Room 4203, California State Capitol, Sacramento (1937)
East Entrance, California State Capitol, Sacramento (1950): Here in the O. C. Malmquist panels, the building takes on more of a Spanish mission look, exchanging the dome for a similarly-shaped curved roof line.
State Personnel Board, Sacramento (1954): After more than fifty years, is this interpretation meant to be a return to Fort Point? Despite the difference in design from the previous image, this seal was also created by O. C. Malmquist.
California State Archives, Sacramento (c. 1956): Another possible throwback to Fort Point?
1304 O Street, Sacramento (1960): Many seals found on state buildings from approximately 1960-1980 do not show the building, which might explain why the 1967 official color scheme makes no mention of it.
California State Archives, Sacramento (1966): Artist Mrs. Pine L. Eisfeller used 87,000 tiny beads to create this seal.
Elihu M. Harris State Building, Oakland (1998): Although this example is from twenty years later, this style of building had been in use as early as 1978.
Vietnam Memorial, Capitol Park, Sacramento (1988)
Family Law Court, downtown Riverside (1998): The artist of this seal may have based his interpretation of the building on the Peace Tower found on Mount Rubidoux, a local Riverside landmark.
Hiram Johnson State Building, San Francisco (c. 1998): The building on this seal, in the building's auditorium, looks somewhat like one of the city's famous painted ladies Victorian homes.
Governor's Office Reception Area Carpet, California State Capitol, Sacramento (c. 1999)
CalTrans District 7 HQ, Los Angeles (2004): Another unusual interpretation
B. F. Sisk Courthouse, Fresno (c. 2010)
DMV, First Avenue, Sacramento (Present day two-tone)
Department of Education, Sacramento (Present day full color): The building has taken on more of a tower rather than a dome.
Thirteen star seal, Senate Secretary's Desk, California State Capitol, Sacramento
Twenty-one star seal, Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building, Sacramento
Twenty-six star seal, Hiram Johnson State Building auditorium, San Francisco
Twenty-nine star California Governor's Seal, which should have thirty-one, as the state seal does, California State Capitol, Sacramento
Twenty-nine star seal on the reverse of a Series 1882BB National Bank Note
Twenty-nine star seal on the B.F. Sisk Courthouse in Fresno
Thirty-two star seal, 1895 California Blue Book, page 299
Thirty-three star seal above the entrance to the 1926 San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park
Thirty-eight star seal, 1895 California Blue Book, title page
Thirty-eight star seal, 1889 San Diego County courthouse
1908 "sky" light seal in the California State Capitol
1964 seal (one of two) on display at the Resources Agency Building
The James W. Marshall monument in Coloma
Minerva stands atop the James Lick Pioneer Monument in San Francisco
The very large seal at the CPUC building in San Francisco
At the base of the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt monument in Sonoma
Seal at the Circle of Palms Plaza in San Jose
A state seal is featured among the six seen here at the Los Angeles County Law Library
From the Helms Bakery building in Culver City
From the Family Law Court in downtown Riverside
In front of the old San Diego Central Public Library
1915 seal on the California Building in Balboa Park, San Diego
Obverse of 1936 California Pacific International Exposition Commemorative Half-Dollar
From a tablet presented to the cruiser California by the Native Daughters of the Golden West in 1907
J.W. Hansen's artistic rendition of the seal at Hoover Dam's Dedication Plaza
A blueprint of the seal in the Decatur House in Washington, D.C.
1857 seal once located in the ceiling of the U.S. House of Representatives
1897 seal in the Library of Congress
The seal can be seen carved into the floor of the temple area of the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines
San Jose State University's historic Seal, from its days as a California State College
Seal of the City of Eureka
Seal of the City of Long Beach
Seal of the County of Alpine

Great Seal of California facts for kids

Images for kids

See also