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Home , Helmet (heraldry)

The horse head stands for speed and strength, and is the state animal.

The forward facing ’s represents sovereignty and self-government.

The female allegorical figure of “Liberty,” with the “Liberty Cap” on her staff (see below).

The three plows on the shield reflect the importance of agriculture to the state’s economy.

Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain holding a cornucopia filled with harvested produce, symbolizing abundance.

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT NEW JERSEY’S GREAT b y G O R D O N B O N D What’s so “great” about New Wax seals were also used by France in 1688, he threw his Jersey’s “Great Seal”? people on folded Great Seal into the Thames The concept of a state seal letters as security against prying River so it could not be dates as far back as ancient eyes. A letter could not be captured and used by his Mesopotamia, when officials opened without breaking the enemies. would roll engraved cylinders seal. Seals are found in many on wet clay to mark documents. cultures around the world. NEW JERSEY AND THE From ancient Egyptian pharohs Americans inherited the GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED to the 18th century’s European practice from Europe, STATES OF AMERICA monarchs and ecclesiastical specifically from England where With the idea of a seal of state officials, metal stamps and the Great Seal of the Realm was already part of the culture, it signet rings were used to used to symbolize the isn’t surprising that the practice imprint their into wax monarch’s authority. Forgery was adopted by the United as proof that a document was was a capital offense. During States. Indeed, it was considered authentic and carried their the English Civil War, when so important that when the authority. James II attempted to flee to Continental Congress declared What’s So Great About New Jersey’s Great Seal O Gordon Bond O GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 6 O December 2009 independence from Great die. He succumbed to turned over to the Secretary of Britain on July 4, 1776, they also tuberculosis in 1788 while in the Congress, Charles Thomson, named the first committee to Frankford, Pennsylvania. an Irish-born patriot from design a seal the same day. It They brought in Francis Philadelphia. What he came up was comprised of Benjamin Hopkinson (1737-1791), a with was a conglomeration of Franklin, Thomas Jefferson Jersian with expertise in ideas from all the committees and John Adams. As . In fact, he that would become the basis for brilliant as the three would do much of the the final deasign. It was first men might have actual work. It was used by Thomson on September been, they were Hopkinson who had 16, 1782, to verify signatures on somewhat clueless put his signature on a document which authorized when it came to the Declaration of George Washington to negotiate matters of heraldry. an exchange of prisoners with Top: Thomson’s Since the seal was original sketch. England. essentially the coat of Left: The first die The design would be refined arms for the new nation, based on his and revised in 1825, 1841, 1877, they sought the advice of sketch. 1885 and finally arrived at a Pierre Eugene du Simitiere. form familiar to us today in But more about him later! Independence 1904. It took, however, six on behalf of years, three committees, and New Jersey, THE GREAT SEAL OF THE the contributions of fourteen along with Richard STATE OF NEW JERSEY men before the Congress finally Stockton, John Hart, A sense of how important the accepted a design in 1782. The John Witherspoon and Abraham concept of a seal was to the final product was actually a Clark. Hopkinson had a conducting of official state combination of elements from penchant for design and created business can be sensed by how the various designs submitted the layout of the $50 continental rapidly it was adopted by the over the period—and New paper money note as well as— newly minted governments— Jersey men played a role in that and not without some and often under less than idea creative evolution. controversy—claiming credit for conditions. On March 25, 1780 a second the American flag. When the New Jersey design committee was formed, On May 4, 1782, the third legislature met in the summer of which consisted of James Lovell committee was formed, this time 1776, as far as the British were of Boston, John Morin Scott of consisting of John Rutledge and concerned, they were an illegal New York and William Churchill Arthur Middleton, both of South body of traitors on the run. Yet Houston of South Carolina. Carolina and Elias Boudinot of they found a place to meet in Houston, however, became a New Jersey. Boudinot hailed the library of the College of Jersian when he attended the from Elizabethtown and served New Jersey at Princeton (later College of New Jersey (later as New Jersey’s representative Princeton University). There, on Princeton University) and fought to at the Continental Congress July 2, 1776, they ratified the with the American militia in as well as the body’s President first state constitution. In doing Somerset County. He went on to from 1782 to 1783. Arthur Lee of this, they officially created a real represent the county at New Virginia had replaced Rutledge, government for a real state— Jersey’s convention to ratify the although he was not officially and real governments needed a Constitution and was twice New appointed. They too sought the seal. So, the same day, they Jersey’s delegate to the assistance of someone with appointed a joint committee to Continental Congress—betwen heraldic experience, this time it take care of it. 1779 and 1781 and again in was William Barton from John Fell of Bergen, NJ 1784 to 1785. He also has the Pennsylvania. suggested for the moment they dubious distinction of being the On June 13, 1782, the designs use the of “his first of the founding fathers to of the three committees were Excellency William Livingston,

What’s So Great About New Jersey’s Great Seal O Gordon Bond O GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 6 O December 2009 .” A native of Albany, design. It was to be, “a Silver often depicted as holding might New York and a -educated Seal, which is to be round, of seem odd to modern eyes. lawyer, Livingston had been two and a half Inches in The influence of Roman and behind a rabble rousing Diameter, and three-eighths of Greek mythology in Western publication in New York, The an Inch thick; and that the Arms culture was an extension of the Independent Reflector, that took shall be three Ploughs in an neoclassical movement that had on the city’s Anglican elite. , the emerged in the mid-18th He became a Jersian in Liberty and Ceres, and the century. The cap is a reference 1772, when he moved a Horse’s Head.” to the “Phrygian cap,” a soft, red to an estate in The form was conical hat worn by priests in Elizabethtown, New dictated largely by ancient Anatolia. Its association Jersey (Liberty Hall classical rules of with liberty was likely a still stands and is a heraldry, but the confusion with a similar hat William museum) and then Livingston specific symbols found in ancient Greece called a became delegate to were chosen to “.” Freed slaves were often the Continental reflect the self given one, thus making it Congress from 1774 identity of the place. emblematic of manumission. It to 1776. The three plows are would appear frequently in When the war with perhaps the most allegorical images in Europe England came in April of obvious. The vast majority of and America. 1775, he was commissioned that North America was rural in the The staff on which the Liberty October as a brigadier general 18th century. But New Jersey’s Cap is slung also has a symbolic in the militia. The agrarianism had been all history. In an age when following year, however, the more accentuated buildings rarely reached more he was elected as New thanks to it being three four stories and church Jersey’s first non- bookended by the steeples dominated the skyline Royal Governor. He urban centers of even of cities, a simple tall replaced the Loyalist, New York and wooden pole would stand out. William Franklin, who Philadelphia. The They would be used a flagpoles had been arrested at English Army and or even to hoist a Liberty Cap as Perth Amboy and took American forces alike a defiant symbol. Patriots would the provincial seals tended to with him. Francis view the Hopkinson So with Livingston as fertile Raritan A Liberty Pole the head of the new state, there Valley as both a erected in New was a logic to Fell’s suggestion highway between York in 1770, that his coat of arms be used to them and as a drawn by Pierre Eugene du represent it, albeit temporarily. larder. During the Simitiere. In the words of the resolution, it war, both sides was just to be used “till another raided farms for shall be made.” supplies. Francis Hopkinson was also But more than that, the plows put them up and Loyalists tapped to help with the design. represent the ideal of the free would try to tear them down. As seen, he would go on to yeoman farmer standing as the Liberty’s holding of a staff, work with the designers of the foundation of republican power topped by the cap, was a scaled United States’ Great Seal. in the new nation. down representation of that Having the shield flanked on spirit. SYMBOLS the one side by the allegorical If one is familiar with Roman Four months after forming the female figure of “Liberty” was mythology, the selection of commission, the legislature had an obvious choice. Yet the Ceres on Liberty’s other side is the basic specifications for a “Liberty Cap” on the staff she is also very obvious.

What’s So Great About New Jersey’s Great Seal O Gordon Bond O GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 6 O December 2009 To the Romans, Ceres was the family moved to the West Indies design—the addition of a goddess of growing plants, when he was 14-years-old and knight’s helmet between the particularly cereals, and of he spend the next fifteen years shield and the horse’s head. nurturing, motherly love. She is there before moving to New often depicted holding a sheaf York and settling in of wheat and would eventually Philadelphia in 1766. There, hold a cornucopia in the final he joined the American seal design. This was frequently Philosophical Society and was generalized as the goddess of a noted collector of curiosities agriculture or prosperity. Given the centrality of farming to New Jersey’s self-image at the time, This ink wash sketch by du Simitiere she was a good choice. of Jamaican musicians, made c.1760, But she was also symbolic of is reminiscent of the impressionism that would follow in the next century. other concepts—Ceres is interpreted as reflecting the state’s hopes for prosperity and and manuscripts—in 1782, he abundance, compassion and opened the American nurture. Museum to display it all. Similarly, the selection of a But he made his living as a horsehead to top the shield both portrait painter, his sitters evoked an agrarian identity including such luminaries as This was a heraldic device. The along with conceptual ideals. George Washington, Baron fact it faces forward denotes the True, the animal was of use on Steuben, Silas Deane, Joseph idea of sovereignty and self- the farm, but it was also Reed, Gouverneur Morris, government—both of which symbolic of strength and speed. General Horatio Gates, John Jay, were certainly important ideas. The instructions described a William H. Drayton, Henry Still, this aristocratic symbol (it seal that was a mix of ancient Laurens, Charles Thomson, was said to be the helmet of a mythological allegories drawn Samuel Huntingdon, John prince) offended the republican from what they saw as the roots Dickinson, and Benedict sensibilities of some Legislators. of civilization and the heraldic Arnold. Nevertheless, it remained part of heritage of their European du Simitiere offered two the design, though some state ancestors. sketches for the Great Seal printers took it upon themselves of the United States to the to omit it on the seals adorning Pierre Eugene Roman first design committee. the covers of the annual du Simitiere statue of None were accepted, sessions of law they printed. With New York Ceres but that didn’t prevent Below the shield, he added a under British him from also working somewhat less controversial control, the center of on seals for Delaware, item: “MDCCLXXVI.” This is Continental power shifted to Georgia and Virginia. 1776 in Roman numerals! This Philadelphia. The town was He was also tasked would be converted into Arabic home to statesmen and a with refining the numbers in 1928, when it was cultural center. Among description from the incorporated into the ribbon those who captured their New Jersey legislature with the new state (which eye was an artist and into a finished product. we’ll come back to later). philosopher there by the But he had some ideas So New Jersey’s official state name of Pierre Eugene du of his own, which didn’t seal owes actually owed much Simitiere. please his fastidious of its design to the interpretation du Simitiere was born in bosses. of a Swiss immigrant artist from Geneva, Switzerland One of his changes Philadelphia who took some in c.1736. His survived into the modern artistic liberties!

What’s So Great About New Jersey’s Great Seal O Gordon Bond O GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 6 O December 2009 Adoption and Refinement seal, which was also featured on . Shield surmounted by Despite any misgivings about the state flag. The two ladies on sovereign's helmet, six bars, or; the symbolism, the New Jersey either side of the shield, after wreath and , Legislature would approve du all, represented both ideals. and . Crest: A horse's head, Simitiere’s design in 1777. It’s Indeed, the words were proper. Underneath the shield possible they were distracted by sometimes used in place of the and supporting the goddesses, a more pressing issues—like the Roman numerals 1776 of the scroll azure, bordered with war that had forced them to original. tenne, in three waves or folds; on move yet again, this time to the So when the Legislature the upper folds the words “Liberty second floor of the Indian King decided to spruce up the old and Prosperity” ; on the under Tavern in Haddonfield. , it was a good time to fold in Arabic numerals, the The Great Seal of the State of officially incorporate the figures “1776.” These words to be New Jersey was rendered in sentiment. The “MDCCLXXVI” engraved round the arms, viz., silver as a stamp and would be was replaced by the ribbon, on “The Great Seal of the State of handed down from Governor to which the motto and a “1776” New Jersey.” Governor thirty-six times, until now appear. The words of the 1928. In the intervening 141- statute reflect both the origial $1,000 was appropriated to years, it had instructions and the cover the design and production become too worn new change—and expenses. Both houses passed to be used. New also formally accept the resolution unanimously and the troublesome it was signed by then-Governor Governor A. Harry Moore, who signed the resolution helmet! A. Harry Moore on March 26, to modify the original state 1928. Both the original and seal in 1928. 52:2-1. Description of current seals are preserved for great seal of state The the Secretary of State by the stamps had been great seal of this state New Jersey State Archives. made for actual shall be engraved on Pierre Eugene du Simitiere use. And the silver, which shall be died in Philadelphia in October inclusion of that round, of two and a of 1784—only a little over a year knight’s helmet still bothered half inches in diameter and after the Treaty of Paris officially enough people that its removal three-eighths of an inch thick; the ended the war with England. It was considered, though it never arms shall be three ploughs in an is perhaps fitting that this was. But that original, worn seal escutcheon [shield], azure [blue]; immigrant who fully adopted retains its ceremonial role as the supporters, Liberty and Ceres. The America as his home should physical link to New Jersey’s Goddess Liberty to carry in her have made such a mark on the founding as a state. dexter hand a pole, proper, new nation. In addition to the Amazingly, the discrepancy surmounted by a cap [red], work on designing national and between the Legislature’s with band azure at the bottom, state seals, he was the one who original instructions and du displaying on the band six stars, first sketched the “Eye of Simitiere’s final design—as argent; tresses falling on Providence” above the pyramid, represented by that pesky shoulders, proper; head bearing which was used on the reverse helmet—still bothered people as over all a chaplet of laurel leaves, of the Great Seal of the United late as 1928 when it was vert; overdress, tenne; underskirt, States, which we see on the decided the emblem needed a argent [silver]; feet sandaled, back of our one dollar notes. He facelift. standing on scroll. Ceres: Same also first suggested E pluribus Still, it was decided to keep it as Liberty, save overdress, gules; unum (Out of Many, One) for and a different change was holding in left hand a our national motto. suggested. By then, “Liberty and cornucopia, or, bearing apples, So what’s so “great” about our Prosperity” had become the plums and grapes surrounded by Great Seal? Turns out a lot of unofficial motto of New Jersey. leaves, all proper; head bearing really interesting history! It was likely a nickname for the over all a chaplet of wheat spears,

What’s So Great About New Jersey’s Great Seal O Gordon Bond O GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 6 O December 2009