Seal of Kansas
Encyclopedia
The Great Seal of the State of Kansas
tells the history
of Kansas
.
The seal contains:
The seal is used on the Flag of the State of Kansas.
from Atchison
. Ingalls also proposed the state motto, "Ad astra per aspera."
The Great Seal of the State of Kansas was established by a joint resolution adopted by the Kansas Legislature
May 25, 1861.
The resolution states:
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
tells the history
History of Kansas
The history of Kansas, argued historian Carl L. Becker a century ago, reflects American ideals. He wrote: "The Kansas spirit is the American spirit double distilled. It is a new grafted product of American individualism, American idealism, American intolerance. Kansas is America in...
of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
.
The seal contains:
- Landscape with a rising sunSunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
(the eastEastEast is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.East is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of west and is perpendicular to north and south.By convention, the right side of a map is east....
) - River and steamboat (commerceCommerceWhile business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
) - Settler's cabin and a man plowing a field (agricultureAgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
) [foreground] - Wagon trainWagon trainA wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
heading west (American expansion / pioneer life) - IndiansNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
hunting American BisonAmerican BisonThe American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
(the buffalo are fleeing from the Indians) - Cluster of 34 stars (top of the seal) – identifying Kansas as the 34th state to be accepted into the Union of the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. - State motto "Ad Astra per AsperaAd astra (phrase)Ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote sic itur ad astra and opta ardua pennis astra sequi, Ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote sic itur ad astra ("thus you shall go to the...
" (LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
: "To the Stars through Difficulties")
The seal is used on the Flag of the State of Kansas.
History
The design for the Great Seal of Kansas was submitted by John J. Ingalls, a state senatorKansas Senate
The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 Senators representing an equal amount of districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members of the Senate are elected to a four year term....
from Atchison
Atchison
Atchison may refer to:PlacesIn the United States:*Atchison, California*Atchison, Kansas, a city*Atchison County, Kansas*Atchison County, MissouriPeople*David Rice Atchison, US senator from MissouriRailroad*Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
. Ingalls also proposed the state motto, "Ad astra per aspera."
The Great Seal of the State of Kansas was established by a joint resolution adopted by the Kansas Legislature
Kansas Legislature
The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, composed of 125 Representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 Senators...
May 25, 1861.
The resolution states:
- "The east is represented by a rising sun, in the right-hand corner of the seal; to the left of it, commerce is represented by a river and a steamboat; in the foreground, agriculture is represented as the basis of the future prosperity of the state, by a settler’s cabin and a man plowing with a pair of horses; beyond this is a train of ox-wagons, going west; in the background is seen a herd of buffalo, retreating, pursued by two Indians, on horseback; around the top is the motto, 'Ad astra per aspera,' and beneath a cluster of thirty-four stars. The circle is surrounded by the words, "Great seal of the state of Kansas. January 29, 1861."