vermont

Vermont’s Great Seal has traveled the full swing of a pendulum. Back in 1778, an artist named Ira Allen designed a seal for the new state. The seal contained some basic symbolic images that represented the state. These images were not intricately sophisticated, but they did depict the character of Vermont at the time. The design was a circle, bordered on the top and bottom by wavy lines suggesting sky and water. A sheaf of wheat stands in each quadrant of the circle. A cow, of course, stands as a cow does, and Vermont had its share of cows. The rolling hills and forests of Vermont’s landscape are depicted across the center of the circle. A lone pine stands at the top center of the scene. Across the lower half of the circle are the words “Vermont Freedom & Unity”. This design was accepted in 1779 by the General Assembly, but in 1821, a more “sophisticated” rendition of the tall pine, the cow, and the landscape came into favor. However, in 1937, Vermont decided that the original design was more in keeping with the state’s image, and the current seal is now a faithful reproduction of Ira Allen’s original design.