26. The District of New Hampshire

The Great Seal of the United States

The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the federal government. The term “Great Seal” is used both for the physical seal itself, which is kept by the Secretary of State, and more commonly for the design impressed upon it.

On July 4, 1776, the same day our nation declared independence from Great Britain, the Continental Congress established a committee to design an official seal. The United States needed a symbol of sovereignty by which to formalize and seal international treaties and transactions, as was typical for nations during that period. It took six years, three committees, and the contributions of fourteen men, including some of our nation’s most visionary founders, before the Congress finally accepted the initial design.

As a cornerstone of nationhood and a carefully crafted message to the world, the Great Seal symbolically proclaimed the guiding principles of these United States. An eagle signifying strength, an olive branch for peace, arrows for defense, and thirteen stars representing the original thirteen states are among the most obvious symbolic features. The phrase “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many, One”) gave clear emphasis to the circumstances of the young nation’s formation and its name: the United States of America.

Over time, the metallic die that embosses the seal’s design into documents degrades and must be replaced. The Great Seal was redesigned and engraved four different times in its first one hundred years. Each successive designer/engraver was given some artistic freedom to make improvements, subject to congressional approval. While the overall design remained basically the same, modifications were made to literally every element of the seal. For example, the eagle was changed to a bald eagle, the crest was removed and the eagle made more robust, its wings were extended and feathers sharpened. In 1885, the cloud surrounding the constellation was made a complete circle. The quality of the 1885 design put an end to the constant modifications of the seal, as the three subsequent versions of the die were almost identical. The seventh and current die of the Great Seal was made in 1986.

The Seal for the Judicial District of New Hampshire

In 1984, the Clerk of Court discovered an aged wax impression of New Hampshire’s original district seal at the bottom of a box retrieved from the National Archives. The precise origin of this fortuitous find remains a subject for further research.

During the nation’s first century, a wide variety of official and unofficial emblazonments for governmental entities were employed, but none identical to New Hampshire’s District Seal. The closest known version was created by Philadelphia engraver James Trenchard, whose several articles in the Columbia Magazine in 1786 included full-page illustrations of his design. That time period corresponds to the date of the court records found in the box containing New Hampshire’s wax impression. It is speculated that a local artisan and engraver may have used Trenchard’s unofficial version as a model. One unique feature of New Hampshire’s district seal is the space left blank for the Clerk of Court to hand-write which specific court, Circuit or District, was issuing the authenticated document. (See Exhibit # 26(b), “One to be Called … New Hampshire District”.)