Territorial seals The need for a seal came when Minnesota became a
territory in 1849 and it was necessary to stamp official documents with something. Territorial governor
Alexander Ramsey first used one of his own design—a sunburst surrounded by the motto, "Liberty, Law, Religion, and Education". The Territorial Council then approved a second version depicting a Native family offering a ceremonial pipe to a white visitor, symbolizing "the eternal friendship" between both the
American settlers and
Native American tribes. Fur trader, territorial Representative and later on Minnesota's first governor,
Henry M. Sibley then commissioned four alternative seals from Col.
John J. Abert, an Army engineer and draftsman. One of the versions featured the theme occurring in the eventual state seal, i.e. an American settler plowing land just as a Native man rides horseback away towards the sun, of which Sibley asked a watercolor version, created by Army Capt.
Seth Eastman.
Historic state seal (1858–2024) When Minnesota became a state in 1858, Sibley officially became the state's first governor. The state should have changed the seal to reflect its new status, but, even though the
Legislature approved a new design, Sibley insisted on the one he had promoted while he was a territorial representative. He changed the motto to the current one in French and reoriented the Indigenous man so that he would ride into the sunset. The Legislature yielded and approved Sibley's design in 1861. A similar design, with a few small modifications over the years, remained on the seal until 2024.
Symbolism of the 1858 seal From 1858 to 2024, the seal included two human figures, an
Indigenous man being on horseback riding off in the background, and an
American pioneer in the foreground plowing his land. The Indigenous man was on horseback riding westward until 1983 and southward afterwards, symbolizing Indigenous people of Minnesota. The rider's horse and spear, and the pioneer's hand axe,
long gun,
powder horn, and plow represented tools of daily life. The tools used by the Native American and the farmer represented the tools used for labor and hunting while the stump symbolized the taming of the land and the importance of the lumber industry to Minnesota in 1858. The furrowing of the ground by the plow represented the submission of the land to the pioneer. The plow also symbolized the importance of agriculture to Minnesota and its future. On the western horizon was a sunset. The straight horizon line reflected the
plains covering much of Minnesota. The
Mississippi River and
St. Anthony Falls were depicted in the seal starting in 1983 to note the importance of these resources in transportation, industry and the settling of the state. Beyond the falls were three
Norway pine trees representing the
state tree and the three pine regions of the state: the
St Croix, Mississippi, and
Lake Superior.
Responses to the 1858 seal When the 1858 seal was commissioned, it was fairly common for territories to adopt seals with the underlying theme of
manifest destiny, i.e. the belief that American settlers were ordained by God to colonize new territories within North America in order to
expand the United States borders. Indigenous groups in Minnesota found the imagery offensive because their perception is that the seal celebrated the removal of Native American tribes. In the 1960s, the
American Indian Movement criticized the design and called for its reevaluation. In 1968, the
Minnesota Department of Human Rights concurred and called to replace it with something that would not show Native peoples in a derogatory light, but little action was taken. The design underwent a minor change in 1983 when the rider was turned southwards (towards the farmer) rather than westwards (towards the sunset), but this did not change the minds of many people about the symbolism. According to Kevin Jensvold, leader of the
Upper Sioux Community, few tribal reservations in the state would fly the flag containing the old seal for the same reason.
Contemporary state seal (2024–present) 2023 redesign process In February 2023, State Representative
Mike Freiberg (DFL-
Golden Valley) introduced a bill that would create a State Emblems Redesign Commission (passed as part of the state budget). Freiberg justified his decision by deriding the current state seal as "a cluttered genocidal mess" that was in need of change. New designs of the flag and the seal were to be submitted in a report to the legislature by January 1, 2024. The designs passed by the commission became official on May 11, 2024 (Statehood Day). then selected six finalists. The commission then selected a final design, modified it by eliminating the nineteen stars in the background, eliminating the year of the state's founding, and replacing the state motto with the Dakota name for the state. On December 5, 2023, the commission declared the new design based on Ross Bruggink's submission the winner in the contest.
Symbolism of the 2024 seal The seal features a common loon (the state bird), the North Star, Northern wild rice (the state grain), and some pine trees (the state tree being the Norway pine). The seal also contains the Dakota phrase , which is translated to . On December 19, 2023, the commission standardized the design by specifying that the outer seal will have 98 gold "boxes" to symbolize the 87 counties and 11 recognized Native American tribes of Minnesota.
Responses to the 2024 seal The redesign commission's initial vote on the seal was unanimous in favor of Bruggink's design. The seal received some media praise for its symbolism and style. Changes made by the commission drew some initial opposition. Prior to the 2024 redesign, Minnesota's state seal included a ribbon that read (translated to English as ). While the 2024 design continues to reference this motto through the inclusion of a four-pointed star representing the
North Star, the decision to replace the text with the Dakota language phrase , the origin of the name Minnesota, was criticized by several
Republican members of the
Minnesota Legislature. Indigenous groups and commission members spoke out in support of the choice to include the Dakota name. During commission proceedings,
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon initially urged his fellow committee members to exclude the Dakota phrase and keep the Minnesota statehood year, 1858, on the seal. The year was ultimately not added due to concerns from the Dakota community stemming from its association with broken treaties between the United States government and the Dakota people. Simon later commended the seal for "showcas[ing] the features of our state that we can all recognize". ==Other government seals of Minnesota==