The Great Seal of the State of Minnesota is the state seal of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was adopted on May 11, 2024, alongside the state flag, for Statehood Day. It features a common loon, Minnesota's state bird, wild rice, the state grain, and the North Star, representing the state's motto (L'Étoile du Nord), and is themed around Minnesota's nature. In the inner circle is the phrase Mni Sóta Makoce, a Dakota phrase that translates to "Land where the water reflects the sky", which is the origin of the state's name. The previous seal's design drew criticism for its depiction of the relationship between the American pioneers and Native American tribes. In May 2023, the Minnesota Legislature created a commission to change both the seal and the state flag. The commission solicited designs from the public, and then selected a final design from the submissions. On December 5, 2023, they chose the design submitted by Ross Bruggink, with the modifications added on top by the commission.
Purpose The duly elected secretary of state is custodian of the state seal in accordance with the Minnesota Constitution. As with great seals in other jurisdictions, Minnesota's state seal serves to attest to the veracity of official government acts. In practice, the secretary of state uses the state seal to authenticate various instruments filed in his or her office, such as enrolled bills passed by the Legislature, executive orders and proclamations issued by the governor, oaths of office for state officials, state agency administrative rules, evidences of state debt, extraditions, certificates of registration for trademarks, notary public commissions, certifications of notarized documents, or changes to municipal boundaries, among many other public documents.
Design The current seal, which was approved in 2023, depicts a series of state symbols contained within a traditional round design, with lettering in an outer circle ringed by a series of gold rectangles and a collection of state symbols and other symbolism in the inner circle. There are official versions in color and black-and-white. The description is detailed in the official report of the State Emblems Redesign Commission.
Text The lettering around the circle is in Georgia bold font: The Great Seal of the State of Minnesota. In the inner circle is the phrase Mni Sóta Makoce in Montserrat-Variable font. This is the Dakota term for "Land where the water reflects the clouds", which is the origin of the state's name.
Symbols The outermost circle contains 98 rectangular golden bars, representing the state's 87 counties and 11 federally-recognized tribes A series of blue roundels between the inner and outer circles separates the "Great Seal" text from the imagery; these are decorative only. In the inner circle are images containing: Wild rice, the official state grain of Minnesota; The common loon, the official state bird of Minnesota, depicted with a red eye A white, four-pointed star representing the state motto "L'Étoile du Nord", a French phrase for “The Star of the North” Trees, shown as triangular green figures, representing the official state tree, Norway Pine and other natural areas Water, stylized as blue waves, to represent the many lakes, rivers and other bodies of water in Minnesota.
History
Territorial seals The need for a seal came when Minnesota became a territory in 1849 and it was necessary to stamp official documents with something. Territorial governor Alexander Ramsey first used one of his own design—a sunburst surrounded by the motto, "Liberty, Law, Religion, and Education". The Territorial Council then approved a second version depicting a Native family offering a ceremonial pipe to a white visitor, symbolizing "the eternal friendship" between both the American settlers and Native American tribes. Fur trader, territorial Representative and later on Minnesota's first governor, Henry M. Sibley then commissioned four alternative seals from Col. John J. Abert, an Army engineer and draftsman. One of the versions featured the theme occurring in the eventual state seal, i.e. an American settler plowing land just as a Native man rides horseback away towards the sun, of which Sibley asked a watercolor version, created by Army Capt. Seth Eastman. Sibley dismissed Territorial Gov. Ramsey's concerns that the imagery was too hostile towards Native people, and in fact, he doubled down on his idea by adding an ax and a Latin motto saying "I wish to see what is beyond" (Latin: Quo sursum velo videre) instead of adding a tipi to the territorial symbol. That seal became official in 1849.
Historic state seal (1858–2024) When Minnesota became a state in 1858, Sibley officially became the state's first governor. The state should have changed the seal to reflect its new status, but, even though the Legislature approved a new design, Sibley insisted on the one he had promoted while he was a territorial representative. He changed the motto to the current one in French and reoriented the Indigenous man so that he would ride into the sunset. The Legislature yielded and approved Sibley's design in 1861. A similar design, with a few small modifications over the years, remained on the seal until 2024. The seal was altered in 1983. The Indigenous figure was reoriented to ride more towards the American settler than away from him, and images of Saint Anthony Falls, the Mississippi River, and Norway pines were also added.
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