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Great Seal
Adopted on February 24, 1886.
The state seal is the first symbol Nevada adopted. A seal is a stamp that is placed on official state documents or papers. Adopted February 24, 1886. A gold seal is embossed with the words, "The Great Seal of the State ofNevada" around the outer edge. Within this is a composite picture showing the mining, agriculture, industry, and scenery of Nevada, under which is a scroll with the state motto, "All for Our Country.
The Territorial Legislature also authorized the Secretary of the Territory to have general supervision over the preparation of the designing and cutting of the seal. No mention was made concerning custody of the seal by the Governor.
The first action taken toward providing the State of Nevada with an official state seal was the adoption of a description of a design for the "Great Seal of the State of Nevada" by the Constitutional Convention in 1864. Subsequently, the convention adopted a resolution that authorized the Secretary of the Territory to procure a state seal, after the adoption of the Constitution by the people, and in accordance with the design adopted by the Constitutional Convention.
Unfortunately, the Constitutional Convention failed to incorporate this action in the Constitution. Being omitted from the Constitution as approved by the people, the action taken by the Convention concerning adoption and resolution had no binding effect in legally establishing a state seal.
In spite of these expressions, no amendment was offered to alter the suggested wording of Art. V, which reads as follows:
Sec. 15. There shall be a Seal of this State, which shall be kept by the Governor and used by him Officially, and shall be called "The Great Seal of the State of Nevada."
No one has ever initiated an amendment to the Constitution altering this requirement. The seal actually is kept by the Secretary of State for the obvious reason that the Secretary, not the Governor, attests to and affixes the seal to certified copies of records and other official documents, as required by state law. Some members of the Constitutional Convention recognized the Secretary of State as the logical custodian of the state seal; however, the situation was not clarified at the convention and has continued to this day as an impractical provision in the Constitution.
The description of the state seal was provided by the Second Session of the State Legislature in 1866 and was identical to that adopted by the Constitutional Convention in 1864. Therefore, the official and legal provision for a state seal dates from the action of the legislature in 1866.
In 1875, the legislature clarified the seal by establishing its dimensions as follows:
and the size thereof shall not be more than two and three fourths inches in diameter; and when completed, shall be known as the Great Seal of the State of Nevada, and shall be used instead of the present Great Seal."
The measure, in recognition of practical considerations, also provided for access to the seal by the Secretary of State, as follows:
"Sec. 2. The Secretary of State shall at all times have access to said seal, and may use the same in verification of all his official acts."
This action in 1875 gave official recognition to the problem raised by the Governor having custody of the state seal. Since that provision is a constitutional one, the legislature would have to initiate a constitutional amendment to change custody. Instead, legislators chose to modify the provision by providing for access to the seal by the Secretary of State. The logical aspect of its custody remained unresolved.
Further action concerning the state seal was not taken until 1955. In that year, the legislature amended the original 1866 law to establish a penalty for the malicious or commercial use of the state seal. Such misuse of the state seal constituted a misdemeanor.
The current description of the state seal in the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) is substantially the same as that in the original act and reads as follows:
NRS 235.010: In the foreground, there shall be two large mountains, at the base of which, on the right, there shall be located a quartz mill, and on the left a tunnel, penetrating the silver leads of the mountain, with a miner running out a carload of ore, and a team loaded with ore for the mill. Immediately in the foreground, there shall be emblems indicative of the agricultural resources of the state, as follows: A plow, a sheaf and sickle. In the middle ground, there must be a railroad train passing a mountain gorge and a telegraph line extending along the line of the railroad. In the extreme background, there shall be a range of snow-clad mountains, with the rising sun in the east. Thirty-six stars and the motto of our state, "All for Our Country," must encircle the whole group. In an outer circle, the words "The Great Seal of the State of Nevada" must be engraved with "Nevada" at the base of the seal and separated from the other words by two groups of three stars each.
Several state seals have been designed for use by state departments and agencies, and variations of the seal appear on some of Nevada's state buildings. Certain inconsistencies are noted among these seals. The most nearly authentic seal is the one that is impressed by the Secretary of State on various documents; it is quite close to the legal description. A few minor differences, however, may be observed in the pictorial portion of the seal. Some of these are quite definite, such as the reference to a "train of railroad cars" (plural), when only one car follows the engine. Others are less definite, such as the reference to a "range of snow-clad mountains," and on the seal as used there is little indication that the mountains are, in fact, wearing a mantle of snow.
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