The New York state seal has had five variations, with the current version designed in 1882 and adopted in 1885. It incorporates the state coat of arms and symbolically expresses the state’s values, history, and industry. The design includes two female figures, Lady Liberty and Lady Justice, and the motto “Excelsior.”
The New York state seal has undergone five variations throughout its history, with the current version having been designed in 1882 and adopted by the state legislature in 1885. Officially known as “The Great Seal of New York,” it incorporates the coat of arms of the state coat of arms which was designed in 1777 and formally adopted in 1778. In its most recent form, the seal is a little more complex in design than the original and more clearly underscores New York’s growing global significance. As with most other state seals, it contains design elements that symbolically express the state’s values, history and industry. The state flag shares similar design elements with the New York state seal by virtue of the inclusion of the official coat of arms.
There are several design elements that showcase the New York state seal, starting with the circular design surrounded by gold braid that contains the text “THE GREAT SEAL OF NEW YORK” across its top. The central design, which is in fact a reproduction of the official New York state coat of arms, appears against a blue background. In the center of the coat of arms, a shield contains images of sloop-rigged ships together, including one three-masted, both sailing on the Hudson River. The two ships symbolically represent local and international trade. Behind the ships, a grassy beach and a mountain range rise, and in front of them the sun radiates golden rays.
There are two female figures flanking the shield in the center of the New York state seal, with Lady Liberty appearing to the left and Lady Justice to the right. Liberty holds a cane in her right hand, while her left foot is planted firmly on a crown, an obvious reference to America’s independence from the British crown. Justice wears an eye patch and holds scales in her left hand, a symbol of New York’s commitment to an impartial and fair legal system. A west-facing American eagle soaring atop a globe refers to New York’s growing importance both to the once rapidly expanding United States and to the world economic scene in the mid-19th century. Below the shield, the motto “Excelsior”, Latin for “always higher”, appears on a rolled banner.
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