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Seal of Louisiana

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Great Seal of the State of Louisiana
Versions
Historical coat of arms (1876)
ArmigerState of Louisiana
Adopted2010
MottoUnion, Justice, Confidence
Earlier version(s)1902

Prior to the Civil War, the "pelican in her piety" surrounded by the motto "Justice, Union and Confidence" was commonly used as the state's seal, after the Civil War, Union supplanted Justice as the ideal to uphold and the motto was changed to "Union, Justice and Confidence" [1] The Great Seal of the State of Louisiana was adopted as the official state seal of Louisiana in 1902. The seal consists of a heraldic charge called a "pelican in her piety," representing a brown pelican (the official state bird) wounding her breast to feed her young from her own blood. This symbol, emblematic of Christian charity, is also found on the Louisiana state flag. The Louisiana state motto of "Union, justice, confidence" surrounds the birds on the state seal. An outer ring further identifies it with the words "State of Louisiana".

During the 19th century it was traditional in Louisiana flags and the state seal for the "pelican in her piety" to have three drops of blood on her chest.[2] However, in later years the tradition (on both the state flag and seal) had been haphazardly followed, which was noticed by an eighth-grader at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma who brought this to the attention of his state legislator.[2] The issue was resolved in April 2006, when the Louisiana State Legislature passed a bill (House Bill 833/Act 92[3]) which requires three drops of blood to be depicted on the pelican used in both the state's flag and seal.

Government seals of Louisiana

See also

References

  1. ^ Collecting the Confederacy, Savas Beattie publishing
  2. ^ a b Eagle-eyed eighth-grader prompts La. flag legislation, an April 2006 article from The Times-Picayune
  3. ^ HB833 - 2006 Regular Session, from the website of the Louisiana State Legislature
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