Seal of Nebraska
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The 1867 legislative act that established the seal describes it in these words:
The eastern part of the circle to be represented by a steamboat ascending the Missouri river; the mechanic arts to be represented by a smith with hammer and anvil; in the foreground, agriculture to be represented by a settler's cabin, sheaves of wheat and stalks of growing corn; in the background a train of cars heading towards the Rocky Mountains, and on the extreme west, the Rocky Mountains to be plainly in view; around the top of this circle to be in capital letters, the motto. 'EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW,' and the circle to be surrounded with the words, 'Great Seal of the State of Nebraska, March 1st, 1867.'
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History
Legislation describing the seal and requiring the secretary of state to procure an instrument to stamp the seal was passed in 1867, with $25 appropriated for the purchase. A cast-iron press in the shape of a lion's head was purchased to imprint the seal. The identity of the artist who designed and engraved the seal is unknown. It may have been a jeweler in Omaha.
Bertram Goodhue, the architect of the Nebraska State Capitol, proposed a new state seal in 1921. The Nebraska legislature rejected his redesign in 1925, and placed the existing state seal on an official state banner. This design was designated the Flag of Nebraska in 1963.
The lion's head press was used for official business for 138 years, when it was retired by Secretary of State John A. Gale because it was in danger of breaking. It was replaced by a toggle-hand press.
Criticism
The Nebraska State Journal gently criticized the design in 1921, finding the 1867 seal "archaic in conception and mediocre in drawing" though still interesting and nostalgic. The newspaper noted that "the Rocky Mountains never belonged in the picture" because they are not located in Nebraska.
One hundred years later (in 2021) the newspaper renewed its criticism, adding that because the seal depicts the Missouri River (which forms the border of Nebraska) some of the land shown on the seal is located in Iowa.