The Great Seal of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Dakilang Sagisag ng Pilipinas'') is used to authenticate official documents of the government of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It may refer to the physical

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

itself or the design impressed upon it. By law, the

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of ...

is given the custody of the seal.

Design and usage

Republic Act No. 8491 specifies a Great Seal for the Republic of the Philippines:

Historical designs

File:Coat of arms of the Philippines (1898–1901).svg, Government Seal of the First Philippine Republic (1898–1901) File:Seal of US Department of the Philippine Islands.png, De facto Great Seal of the Philippine Islands (1903–1905) File:Great Seal of the Philippine Islands (1905-1935).svg, De jure Great Seal of the Philippine Islands (1905–1935) File:Seal Philippines, USA (1940-1941).svg, Government Seal of the Philippines, 1940-1941 File:Great Seal of the Philippines (1943-1945).svg, Great Seal of the Second Philippine Republic (1943–1945) File:Great Seal of the Philippines (1946-1978).svg, Great Seal of the Republic of the Philippines (1946–1978)

Seals of the Philippine Revolutionary states

The First Philippine Republic featured a seal composed of an equilateral triangle with three stars representing Luzon, Visayas, and "Mindanao and Sulu" and an eight-rayed sun. There were several variations of the seal such as different arrangement of the stars and the presence or absence of a face on the sun. The Republic of Biak-na-Bato, and

Malolos Republic The Philippine Republic ( es, República Filipina), now officially known as the First Philippine Republic, also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic, was established in Malolos, Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution against ...

also used seals.

American period

In 1903, a design by Melecio Figueroa, a Filipino engraver, for coinage was adopted for the design of the Great Seal under the United States-administered Insular Government. The seal featured

Mayon Volcano Mayon ( bcl, Bulkan Mayon; tl, Bulkang Mayon, ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano ( es, Monte Mayón, Volcán Mayón), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renow ...

and a Filipino woman in

Filipiniana Filipiniana, or originally Filipiñana, based on the definition by Isagani Medina from "Collection Building: Filipiniana", in his ''In Developing Special Library Collections, Filipiniana: Proceedings'' (November 1992), are Philippine-related bo ...

attire striking an anvil, surrounded by the text "United States of America, Government of the Philippine Islands". This seal has "never been legally adopted by the

Philippine Commission The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines. The first Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Preside ...

" was supplanted by a design of John R.M. Taylor in 1905, when a new coat of arms was also adopted. The seal was revised when the

Philippine Commonwealth The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

was established in 1935, and the new coat of arms was patterned after the Philippine flag. The seal was composed of the arms inscribed in a circle with the text "United States of America, Commonwealth of the Philippines". President Manuel L. Quezon adopted a new coat of arms and seal in through Executive Order No. 313 on December 23, 1940. The seal was not used despite its official adoption, and the Commonwealth reverted to the 1935 seal on February 23, 1941.

Second Philippine Republic

The Second Philippine Republic of 1943 to 1945, a

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sove ...

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

, adopted a different seal in October 1943. President Jose P. Laurel issued Republic Act No. 5, which states that the design is a triangular emblem encircled by a double marginal circle. The law dictates the seal to be:

Post–World War II

After the dissolution of the

and the granting of the full independence of the Philippines by the United States in 1946, a new coat of arms was adopted along with a great seal. The seal was composed of the seal inscribed in a double marginal circle with the text "Republic of the Philippines". The seal had little revisions. In 1978, President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

, included the motto " ''Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa''" (“One Nation, One Spirit”) and the inscription of the seal was in Filipino as "''Republika ng Pilipinas, Opisyal na Tatak''".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippines, Great Seal Of The Great Seal National seals