Heraldry in State Capitols

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 September 2009 22:41
 

Above the speaker’s dais in the New Jersey General Assembly:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3016/3389752869_1b1f1399bf.jpg

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 September 2009 22:58
 

A ceiling in the Missouri State Capitol:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/2329674775_058a67cc77.jpg

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 September 2009 23:03
 

And carved on the outside of the same (Missouri) building:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/145/335956422_c63bca7346.jpg

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 September 2009 23:06
Jay Bohn
 
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Jay Bohn
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02 October 2009 21:53
 

Joseph McMillan;72124 wrote:

Above the speaker’s dais in the New Jersey General Assembly:


If I may pick a small nit, it is just the Assembly, without the high military rank.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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02 October 2009 23:25
 

Jay Bohn;72203 wrote:

If I may pick a small nit, it is just the Assembly, without the high military rank.


Sorry, Jay.  I guess I was confused by Article IV, Sec. 1 of the New Jersey Constitution:  "1.  The legislative power shall be vested in a Senate and General Assembly."

 

:?

 
Jay Bohn
 
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Jay Bohn
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03 October 2009 07:33
 

Joseph McMillan;72204 wrote:

Sorry, Jay. I guess I was confused by Article IV, Sec. 1 of the New Jersey Constitution: "1. The legislative power shall be vested in a Senate and General Assembly."

:?


You’re absolutely right. I should have confirmed with the source. Unfortunately the media here shortens it the just "Assembly"

 
gselvester
 
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gselvester
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07 October 2009 15:03
 

This isn’t in the New York capitol building but it is in the state capitol in the Al Smith office building:

http://www.hmdb.org/Photos/24/Photo24612o.jpg

 
Wilfred Leblanc
 
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Wilfred Leblanc
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07 October 2009 17:21
 

Though I suppose it isn’t, strictly speaking, part of the emblazonment, what does the device directly beneath the shield allude to? It looks a lot like a Thracian four drachma coin I’ve seen that represents Alexander the Great as the Egyptian God Amun. Obviously, the figure shown in profile here is bearded, but otherwise the resemblance is uncanny.

 
Barrie Burr
 
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Barrie Burr
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09 October 2009 07:47
 

I know absolutely (almost) nothing about American heraldry, but thanks to this forum and it’s knowledgable members, I am learning. I think that it is fantastic that the science is embraced in so many ways in the US. Great photograph too.

 
Chuck Glass
 
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Chuck Glass
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24 October 2009 17:46
 

From the outside of the Texas State Capitol:

[ATTACH]640[/ATTACH]

 

The six coats of arms of Texas; Spain, France, Mexico, The Rebuplic of Texas, The Confederate States of America, and The United States of America.

 

[ATTACH]641[/ATTACH]

 

Under the rotunda.

 

[ATTACH]642[/ATTACH]

 

The "reverse" of the state seal, the arms of The State of Texas.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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24 October 2009 18:53
 

Charles Glass;72843 wrote:

[ATTACH]642[/ATTACH]

The "reverse" of the state seal, the arms of The State of Texas.


One of the odder bits of state symbolism:  it looks like a coat of arms, and yet it is not the coat of arms of Texas.  That is defined as "a white star of five points, on an azure ground, encircled by an olive and live oak branches."

 
lucduerloo
 
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lucduerloo
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25 October 2009 12:16
 

Joseph McMillan;72844 wrote:

One of the odder bits of state symbolism:  it looks like a coat of arms, and yet it is not the coat of arms of Texas.  That is defined as "a white star of five points, on an azure ground, encircled by an olive and live oak branches."


This is certainly one of the particular features of US heraldry. I mean the way in which the seal is seen as a distinct emblem from the coat of arms. When the US declared its independence, the practice in Europe was (and remained so for a very long time) to define the shield ON the seal. There is for instance no separate description of the arms of the Kingdom of Belgium. The only official text is the description (dating from the 1830s) of the great and small seal.

 

Hence, from a European perspective, the arms defined for the reverse of the state seal of Texas would be considered arms or alternative arms for the state.

 
Kenneth Mansfield
 
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Kenneth Mansfield
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27 April 2010 14:29
 

I had not noticed before that the arms of the United States are on the back of the chair Lincoln is leaning on in the statue in our rotunda. I tried to take a picture with my phone, but it was too dark. I’m in the process of building a website for the Capitol Centennial Celebration, so I got the guys from Creative Services to snap a shot of it for me.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/9594/lincolnchair.jpg

Photo by John Perkins, Creative Services, Commonwealth of Kentucky