Things You Might Not Know About the Great Seal of West Virginia

 

1906 THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE IN FULL . “ The Joint Committee appointed to report suitable devices , & c . , respectfully recommends the following : ”

“ The disc of the Great Seal to be two and one half inches in diameter .

“ The obverse to bear the legend State of West Virginią, the Consitutional designation of our Republic , which , with the motto Montani semper liberi , ** ( in English ‘ Mountaineers are always free ' ) is to be inserted in the circumference . In the center a rock with ivy , emblematic of stability and continuance , and in the face of the inscription June 20 , 1863 , ' the date of our foundation , as if « graved with a pen of iron in the rock forever . ' On the right of the rock , a farmer clothed in the traditional hunting shirt peculiar to this region , his right arm resting on the plow - handles , and his left supporting a woodman's axe , indicating that while our territory is partially cultivated ( it ) is still in process of be ing cleared of the original forest . At his right , a sheaf of wheat and a cornstalk . On the left of the rock a miner indicated by a pickaxe on his shoulder , with barrels and lumps of mineral at his feet . On his left , an anvil partly seen , on which rests a sledge . hammer , typical of the mechanic arts , the whole indicating the principal pursuits and resources of the State . In front of the

. rock and figures , as if just laid down by the latter , and ready to be resumed at a moment's notice , two hunter's rifles , and sur mounted at the place of contact by the Phrygian Capt or ' Cap of Liberty ' indicating that our freedom and independence were won and will be maintained by arms .

* This motto was a familiar one to Mr. Diss DeBar who had heard it all his life ..

For centuries it had expressed the spirit of freedom of the hardy mountaineers of Switzerland , and that , too , when , centuries ago , the country was surrounded on every hand by absolute monarchies , whose purpose it was to crush the spirit of liberty out of every people in Europe . - V . A. L.

* The " Phrygian Cap ” is the most significant emblem in the Coat - of - Arms or Great

Seal of the State . The ancient country known as Phrygia comprised the western part of the great central plateau of Anatolia in ancient Asia Minor , now in Asiatic Turkey . The inhabitants were known to the Greeks as Phryges , meaning Freemen . These people appear to have been closely akin to certain tribes in Macedonia and Thrace and their near relationship to the Helenic stock is proven by all that is known of their language and art , and is accepted by every modern authority . It appear's from statements of IIerodotus , Strabo and others , that the Phrygians removed from Macedonia into Thrace , and later , crossed into Asia Minor , where they settled , first about the base of Mt. Ida , on the shores of the Hellespont ; whence they gradually extended themselves to the shores of the Ascanian Lake and the valley of the Sangarius River . They were here allied alternately with the Greeks , Persians and Romans . At the time

COAT - OF - ARMS AND STATE SEALS OF WEST VIRGINIA , AS ADOPTED IN 1863 . ( From photographic views of the drawings made by J. H. Diss De Bar , and used by the Committee on Seals in the West Virginia Legislature , in July , 1863. In possession of the State Department of Archives and History . )

1906 ]  REVERSE OF GREAT SEAL .

" The above to be also the legend , motto and device of the Less Seal , the disc of which should have a diameter of an inch and is half .

The reverse of the Great Seal to be encircled by a wreath com posed of laurel and oak leaves . emblematic of valor and strength , with fruits anal cereals , productions of our State . For device of landscape : ' In the distance on the left of the disc , wooded mountains ; and on the right a cultivated slope with the log - frame house peculiar to this region . On the side of the mountain a representation of the viaduct on the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Preston County , one of the great engineering triumphs of the age , with a train of cars about to pass on it . Near the center a factory , in front of which a river with boats on the bank , and to the right of it , near the foreground a derrick and shed ap pertaining to the production of salt and petroleum . In the fore ground a meadow with cattle and sheep feeding and reposing , the whole indicating the leading characteristics , productions , and pursuits of the State at this time . Above the mountains , & c . , the sun emerging from the clouds , indicating that former obstacles to our prosperity are disappearing . In the rays of the sun the motto " Libertas e fidelitate ( in English ' Liberty from Loyalty ' ) indicating that our freedom and independence are the result of faithfulness to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the National Constitution . ”

The Committee further recommend that the above device and motto , for the obverse of the Great Seal be also adopted as the Coat - of - Arms of the State . ”

From the foregoing Report it is seen that the Great Seal and Coat - of - Arms are the same , and that the Less Seal bears the same legend , motto and device as the Great Seal , differing only in the length of its diameter . It does not appear that the reverse side of the Great Seal is in use .

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of their connection with the Persians , they were regarded as one of the most progressive and cultured people in the western dominions of that Empire . They were ever brave and chivalreus , loving freedom , and the emblem of their liberty was the CAP they wore . The Greeks and Romans knew it as the " Phrygian Cap , " or " Cap of Liberty , ” because it was later adopted and worn by all people freed from slavery . For more than two thousand years it was thus used and known . The Swiss wore it in their struggles for freedom and it was adopted by the leaders of the French Revolution , who called it “ cap rouge , " the red cap of liberty . In form it was not unlike the toboggan cap much worn by the boys of our own day and country . Mr. Diss De Bar krew its history , had heard its story , had seen it worn as an emblem of freedom in Switzerland and France ; hence its presence on the Coat - of - Arms or Great Seal of West Virginia . - V . A. L.

THE COAT - OF - ARMS OR THE GREAT SEAL PAINTED IN COLORS ON

THE BATTLE FLAGS OF THE STATE .

The next action of the Legislature regarding the Coat - of - Arms or Great Seal of the State was that contained in Joint Resolution No. 7 , adopted January 28 , 1864 , which directed that it be placed on the State Flag authorized to be presented to the Fourth Regiment West Virginia Volunteer Infantry . Thereafter it was placed on the State Flags and thus in 1864 , a new Flag with a new Coat of - Arms was seen in the Volunteer armies of the United States .

The work of printing the Coat - of - Arms on these State Flags was done in colors . Imagine a flag of blue silk 6x6 feet bordered with gold ; and this is the State Flag as then used ready to receive legends and inscriptions . Painted on one side of this was an oval , the diameters being 32 and 34 inches respectively , the longer being the horizontal ; its color , used as a background was a soft or whitish gray .  

First in the foreground is plowed land of a darkish color resembling a fresh - plowed West Virginia field . Then there was a green sward on which rests the guns covered at point of contact by the Phrygian Cap . The most prominent ob ject in the painting is the rock , which in color nearly resembles the brown stone quarried near Hinton , or , more properly , Cleve land building stone . The ivy vine is , of course , green . The Phry gian Cap is red with a Persian band - brown and tan combined . The floating scroll is pink and the letters of the motto thereon a reddish brown . The corn is “ in silk , ” that is , roasting ears and is , therefore , green . 

The sheaf of wheat resting on the plow is golden grain - ripe . The anvil is a dark steel shaded into gray . It rests on a dark block of wood . The sledge thereon is dark , black , —with light shading . The handle is the same as that of the Phrygian Cap . The axe is black with light falling on bit and edges and the handle is the same as the band on the Phrygian Cap . The barrels are brown or rather , in native wood color . The plow handles are of a dark salmon color .

Now as to the two men : They appear as in middle life ; both wear black burnside whiskers , otherwise are smoothly shaven , with faces considerably flushed , that of the miner being the darker of the two . As to costume , both wear black slouch hats , the rim of that of the miner being flat or about horizontal , while that of the farmer is tacked or pinned up on the left side — a la General Wayne . The farmer wears the traditional Hunting - Shirt which comes down to his knees and has a cape that reaches to his waist .

1906 ]  CHANGES IN STATE SEAL .

Around the lower border of the cape and the tail of the coat is a border of red fringe . The coat , or hunting shirt , itself is a butter nut brown with a turn - down collar , and tied under his chin is a bow of red , as if a red bandanna handkerchief had been passed around under the collar and tied in front so that only the bow is seen . He wears a black belt , but this is seen only in small part in front , the remainder being concealed by the cape of the Hunting Shirt . His trousers are likewise butternut - brown , but they , like the coat , are shaded in dark folds . He wears shoes of a coarse character and they are black .

The miner is without a coat , wears what appears to be an old fashioned brown muslin shirt ; it is a yellowish white and has cuffs turned back just as the men of the present generation wore them when they were boys . The collar is also an old - fashioned rolled down style , under which passes a black tie which is tied neatly into a ' well formed bow in front . He wears a crimson vest having six buttons , the lower three being open . His trousers are of a whitish gray material shaded into dark folds . He , too , wears coarse shoes which are black . Such was the Coat - of - Arms or Great Seal of the State carried into battle by West Virginia Regiments .

SOME OF THE CHANGES WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE STATE SEALS ,

OR COAT - OF - ARMS .

Since the engraving of the Coat - of - Arms , that is the Great Seal , at the time they were designed and adopted , changes have taken place — many of them — so many , indeed , as to make the present design differ widely from the original . In order to observe this one has only to compare early impressions with some of those of the present time . The divergence will at once appear.

An inspection of the original shows that the design and painting on the Flags were in strict accordance with the description in the above quotation . In these originals there is a rock with ivy ; this ivy has now become a gnarled , forked tree standing in front of the rock .  

In the original , on the right of the rock is a farmer clothed in the traditional hunting - shirt peculiar to this region ; this hunting - shirt has , in one engraving , became a blouse . His hat , a slouch in the original , has become a derby . The shirt was hidden by the hunting shirt , but is now plainly visible as a barred sweater - prison garb . 

In the original he wears shoes ; now he has cavalry boots well up on his thighs . In the original in felling trees ; but this has been changed to a broad - axe such as are used for hewing purposes . In the original , a stalk of corn grew near ; now there are several stalks — a whole hill of corn . 

The Miner originally wore shoes , but he , since that time , has gotten into a pair of boots up to his knees . Then he wore a slouch hat ; now he , too , wears a derby , and has made what the artist would call a decided improvement in his necktie . In the original , he was smoothly shaven except sideburns ; since that time he has permitted a mus tache to grow . He carries a pick in the original , a miner's pick ; but this he seems now to have changed for an ice - pick ; or some similar implement . The barrels representing the petroleum in terest , are still near by him . Then he had , about his feet , lumps of mineral representing coal ; this he has now removed , or dis posed of otherwise . The anvil is still near ; then it had a sledge hammer lying upon it ; now it has some other kind of an imple ment which resembles a nut on the end of a bolt rather than a hammer . In front of the rock are two guns — hunters ' rifles in the original , with tallow - box on the breach of cach ; now they have become Winchesters or Krag-Jorgensons . At the point of con tact of these guns is the Phrygian Cap which has been the chosen emblem of heroism and victory ever since the time of Alexander the Great ; later worn by the Swiss in their struggles for inde pendence , then by the leaders of the French Revolution , and , af terwards , incorporated into the Great Seal of West Virginia by Mr. Diss De Bar . 

In the original the top or crown of this cap , always leaning , inclines toward the left ; but this has been changed and it now turns to the right . Now there is a blazing sun rising from behind the rock . This never had any place on the obverse of the Great Seal , but has been incorporated from the reverse on which the sun is represented as rising above the mountains in stead of above a rock . 

 The location of the motto “Montani sem për liberi,"  is a matter of interest . The sculptor , who cut the Great Seal above the main entrance of the State House , placed this motto outside , that is below the guns . In the painting made on the flags , this motto was placed on a floating scroll between the base of the rock and the guns , where it shows in the colors very prettily .

Departures from the original appear to have begun in the early seventies . There is in this Department , an impression of the Seal used in the auditor's office in 1870 , which conforms to the original . There are other impressions used by the Legislature in 1877 , and still , another pasted on the deeds for the State House property, executed in 1879.