Color version of the Minnesota state seal, 1983

Color version of the Minnesota state seal, 1983

Color version of the Minnesota state seal, 1983. Public domain.

Variation of the Great Seal of Minnesota

Variation of the Great Seal of Minnesota

Variation of the Great Seal of Minnesota that replaces the Native American horseman with a settler on horseback. This version of the seal was authorized by the Secretary of State in 1971 but never used on official documents. It nevertheless appeared in some official settings.

The Great Seal of Minnesota’s central image on the battle flag of the Fifth Minnesota

The Great Seal of Minnesota’s central image on the battle flag of the Fifth Minnesota

The central image of the Great Seal of Minnesota on the battle flag of the Fifth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, as it would have appeared in about 1865, before damage to the center image.

Alternate seal design by Louis Buechner

Alternate seal design by Louis Buechner

Great Seal of Minnesota (alternate design) by lithographer Louis Buechner, 1858. This seal contains familiar settler-colonial images of progress offset by a Native American man pointing to a setting sun. From Robert M. Brown's “The Great Seal of the State of Minnesota,” Minnesota History 33, no. 3 (Autumn 1952), 127.

Alternate seal design by Charles F. Lowe

Alternate seal design by Charles F. Lowe

Alternate design of the Great Seal of Minnesota by Charles F. Lowe, 1858. Some sources identify Robert O. Sweeny as the designer instead of Lowe. From William H. C. Folsom's Fifty Years in the Northwest (St. Paul: Pioneer Press, 1888), 658. Officially adopted by the Minnesota legislature but never used, the Lowe/Sweeny design echoed themes in the territorial seal. The central waterfall represents Minnehaha Falls. A Native American warrior pointing towards the setting sun provides a counterpoint to images of farming, shipping, and other signs of “progress.”

“Seal of Minnesota” poem

“Seal of Minnesota” poem

“The Seal of Minnesota,” a poem by Mary Henderson Eastman. Originally printed in the Minnesota Pioneer, February 20, 1850, 2.

 Great Seal of Minnesota Territory

Great Seal of Minnesota Territory

The Great Seal of Minnesota Territory, ca. 1849. From William Watts Folwell's A History of Minnesota, Vol. 1 (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1921), 461.

Seth Eastman’s watercolor image for the Minnesota Territorial Seal

Seth Eastman’s watercolor image for the Minnesota Territorial Seal

Watercolor artwork for the Minnesota Territorial Seal created by Seth Eastman in 1849.

Great Seal of the Territory of Wisconsin

Great Seal of the Territory of Wisconsin

The Great Seal of the Territory of Wisconsin, after 1838. The themes of oncoming civilization and retreating “savagery” were—and are—common pioneering motifs. The seals of Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, and North Dakota portray plowmen, while standalone plows appear on ten others. Kansas and North Dakota seals depict retreating Native people as well. The seal of Wisconsin Territory, containing both a foregrounded plowman and a Native man gesturing westwards, may have influenced the Minnesota seal.

Minnesota State Seal

Minnesota State Seal

Brass seal of Minnesota, created in 1858.

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