State seals

State Seals List

The state seal is used today for authenticating documents of high importance or used in important ceremonies issued in the name of an authority like a governor. The US has a state seal as well and it is used by the President. The seal is usually held by the secretary of state, and is named the keeper of the state seal. 

A state seal’s purpose is to identify an individual or organization and to authenticate written material, just like a signature. Historically a seal established the authenticity of a document, just as a signature does today. Currently when both a seal and a signature appear together on a document, the seal authenticates or verifies the signature. 

Some seals have both a front and a back. The great seal of the United States and the state of Texas seal are two-sided. The front side of the seal is known as the obverse and is the only side used for pressing the seal on documents. The back side of the seal is known as the reverse. 

Historically the reverse of a seal was used for impression on the back side of a wax pendant seal, but today the reverse of a seal is used only for decorative purposes.