The Great Seal of the State of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

tells the history of Kansas. The seal contains: * Landscape with a rising

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

(the

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

) * River and steamboat (

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

) * Settler's cabin and a man plowing a field (

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

) oreground*

Wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

heading west (American expansion / pioneer life) * Indians hunting

American Bison The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply Bubalina, buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongs ...

(the buffalo are fleeing from the Indians) * Cluster of 34 stars (top of the seal) – identifying Kansas as the 34th state to be accepted into the Union of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. * State motto "'' Ad Astra per Aspera''" (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: "To the Stars through Difficulties") The seal is used on the Flag of the State of Kansas.

History

Kansas state coat of arms (illustrated, 1876)

The design for the Great Seal of Kansas was submitted by John James Ingalls, a state senator from

Atchison Atchison may refer to: Places In the United States: *Atchison, California, a former settlement *Atchison, Kansas, a city *Atchison County, Kansas *Atchison County, Missouri People with the surname * Bob Atchison (born 1941), Canadian drag race ...

. Ingalls also proposed the state motto, "''Ad astra per aspera''." The Great Seal of the State of Kansas was established by a joint resolution adopted by the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...

on May 25, 1861. The resolution states: :"The east is represented by a rising sun, in the right-hand corner of the seal; to the left of it, commerce is represented by a river and a steamboat; in the foreground, agriculture is represented as the basis of the future prosperity of the state, by a settler’s cabin and a man plowing with a pair of horses; beyond this is a train of ox-wagons, going west; in the background is seen a herd of buffalo, retreating, pursued by two Indians, on horseback; around the top is the motto, 'Ad astra per aspera,' and beneath a cluster of thirty-four stars. The circle is surrounded by the words, "Great seal of the state of Kansas. January 29, 1861."

References

External links

The Great Seal of the State of Kansas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seal Of Kansas Symbols of Kansas

History

See also

References

External links