Seal of New York City

The seal of the New York City, adopted in an earlier form in 1686, bears the legend Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci which means simply "The Seal of the City of New York": Eboracum was the Roman name for York in Latin, the titular seat of James II as Duke of York. York was founded by the Romans in 70 AD.

Overview

The two supporters represent the unity between Native Americans and colonists: dexter, a sailor colonist holds a plummet—a navigational tool—in his right hand, while over his right shoulder is a cross-staff; sinister, a Lenape native to Manhattan rests his left hand upon a bow.

Upon the arms / shield, the four windmill sails recall the city's Dutch history as New Amsterdam and the beavers and flour barrels signify the city's earliest trade goods (see History of New York City). The flour barrels and windmills represent the tremendous wealth generated by New York City from the Bolting Act of 1674.[1] The act gave the city an exclusive monopoly to mill and export flour. The shield and supporters rest upon a horizontal laurel branch.

The crest over the seal is the bald eagle, added in 1784, after the American Revolution. Prior to this change, a crown had been located in this space, representing the authority of the monarchy during the British colonial period. The eagle rests upon a hemisphere. At the bottom is the date, 1625, when Fort Amsterdam was designated the capital of the province of New Amsterdam, the colonial Dutch settlement which would later become the City of New York. The first Dutch settlers actually arrived in the region in 1624, and the town of New Amsterdam was incorporated in 1653.[2] The English came in 1664 and the Dutch Governor Stuyvesant surrendered signing the English documents on September 8, 1664, and it was named New York. The 300th Anniversary of New York was celebrated with the World's Fair in New York in 1964 in Flushing Meadows, the borough and county of Queens, where religious freedom was first recognized with the Flushing Remonstrance in 1657. A laurel wreath encircles the seal.

The city clerk is the custodian of the City Seal.

Changes to the seal

New York City seal with the 1664 date
Year of change Description of change(s) made
1784 Bald eagle was added to replace a crown.[2]
1915 Changed the date from 1686 to 1664.[2]
1977 Changed the date from 1664 to 1625.[2]

Prior to 1915, New York City's contemporary seal lacked an official standard, and was often subject to variations featuring a number of different arrangements of the eagle, and the two figures at either side of the coat of arms. For this reason the New York Arts Commission contracted renowned American sculptor Paul Manship to develop an historically accurate version of the original 1784 seal which could be duplicated across city departments as an official symbol. Following approval by the Board of Aldermen on March 23, 1915, the present design was adopted and with the exception of the changes in the year on the seal, has remained in use ever since.[3][4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "New York's 250th Anniversary". The New York Times Magazine. June 20, 1915. p. SM12. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Roberts, Sam (July 14, 2008). "New York's Birth Date: Don't Go by City's Seal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  3. ↑ Bogart, Michele H. (2006). The Politics of Urban Beauty: New York and Its Art Commission. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. p. 152.
  4. ↑ Hall, Edward Hagaman (1915). "Appendix H– Seal and Flag of the City of New York". Twentieth Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society to the Legislature of the State of New York. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, Printers. p. 819.
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