Indiana State Seal

The state seal of Indiana was officially adopted in 1863. Before the state of Indiana was created, it was a part of the Northwest Territory which had its own seal under the control of Arthur St. Clair, the Governor of the Northwest Territory. After the creation of the Indiana Territory in 1800, no official announcement regarding the use of a seal was made and the territorial seal was used.

Despite a proposal for its design in 1816 and a proposal for a legislature in 1895, it was not until 1963 that legislation was introduced for its standardization and official adoption. The rising sun symbolizes a bright future, the mountains represent its terrain, the woodman symbolizes the victory of civilization over the wild, while the fleeing buffalo symbolizes running away from civilization.

“When the General Assembly met in 1963, a new member of the House of Representatives, Taylor I. Morris, Jr., of New Castle, decided the historical oversight had been permitted long enough. He had read newspaper accounts of research on the subject by Charles R. Brown of Montezuma, a former Senate secretary and veteran employee of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

“Together they drafted a bill describing the Seal then in use by the Secretary of State. House Enrolled Act No. 1348 was approved by Governor Matthew E. Welsh on March 11, 1963. Thus, the Seal’s scene—with its woodsman felling a tree and its buffalo fleeing from the forest—finally became official.” -source in.gov