Missouri was purchased from France in 1803 and became part of the Louisiana Territory. It entered the Union in 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise. The state seal features a shield with a bald eagle, state symbols, and a belt with the state motto.
The state of Missouri is located in the Midwestern region of the United States. What is now Missouri was originally land purchased from France in 1803 that became part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri entered the Union as part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, in which Congress determined which new states formed from U.S. territories could allow slavery. The state seal of Missouri was created by Robert William Wells, who was later appointed a federal district judge for the US District Court of Missouri by President Andrew Jackson. The Missouri General Assembly adopted Wells’ design on January 11, 1822.
In the center of the state seal of Missouri is a circular shield divided in half by a vertical line. The Coat of Arms and Coat of Arms of the United States are displayed in the center of the right half of the shield. A bald eagle with wings and legs spread is covered in an alternating red and white striped breastplate that hangs from a blue banner, representing the original 13 states. In one claw the eagle holds an olive branch and in the other a handful of arrows, symbolizing America’s peacemaking power through strength. The eagle holds in its beak a ribbon with the American motto E Pluribus Unum, “Of many” and above the eagle’s head are 13 blue stars bursting through golden light surrounded by a ring of clouds.
On the left half of the circle, which is further divided in half, are two state symbols, a grizzly bear under a crescent. The crescent on the Missouri state seal has two symbolic meanings, one has to do with what Missouri was like when it joined the Union and what it hoped to become. Though small in population, it would increase like a new moon in size and prosperity. The grizzly walks across an open field which represents freedom and the land’s abundance. Around the shield is a belt fastened with the state motto: “United we stand, divided we fall”.
Two grizzly bears stand on either side of the shield, facing each other while holding it upright. The bears stand at the ends of a scroll engraved with the Latin phrase Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto, meaning “The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law.” Below the scroll are Roman numerals for the year 1820, when it was decided that Missouri could become a state.
In the remaining symbols of the Missouri state seal, a knight’s helmet atop the shield and represents the sovereignty of the state of Missouri as a part of the Union. A large star surrounded by 23 stars marks Missouri’s place as the 24th state in the United States. The cloud around the star of Missouri symbolizes the state’s struggle to gain admission to the Union.
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