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New Hampshire has held two Seal s since it declared its independence from Britain prior to the United State's Declaration Of Independence . Both seals have been retained, though most people are only familiar with the Great Seal. Colony Seal On July 1 , 1774 , the First Provincial Congress met for the first time in Exeter , and subsequently they discarded every "royal," including the previous "George the III" seal.
The motto, "vis untia fortuna," which translates as "Strength United is Stronger," was never officially proclaimed but used during the American Revolution until 1784. While no official document proscribing the seal has been located, the first record of the seal is found on commissions issued to military officers by the Provincial Congress dated September 1 , 1775 . The last known use of the seal was on an act of the General Assembly on July 5 , 1775 . First State Seal 1776 It is believed the die used to affix the seal was designed during the summer of 1776. The first state seal was officially proscribed in an act passed September 12 , 1776 , two days after the resolution of statehood. The seal is still used by the General Court, though there is no current statute governing its design or use.
GREAT SEAL When the present state constitution became effective in 1784, the legislature revised the seal, to depict a ship on stocks, with a rising sun in the background, to reflect Portsmouth having become a major shipbuilding center during the war years. Various items for shipment were also shown on a frontal dock. In 1919, New Hampshire Historical Society Director Otis G. Hammond, on the order of the Governor and Coucil, wrote about the history of the state seal and flag. He wrote how because the law governing the design of the seal was not very specific. When the dies wore down and had to be redesigned, the artists and sketchers had injected surprising details into the seal, such as rum barrels on the dock, sometimes including people standing beside them. In 1931, after Governor John G. Winant began his second term he named a committee to produce a seal devoid of controversy. The General Court approved the committee's recommendations, the General Court later enacted a law codifying the official design of the state seal. State Seal law of 1931 The 1931 State Seal law placed the frigate ''Raleigh'' became the centerpiece of the new seal. The ''Raleigh'' was built in Portsmouth in 1776, as one of the first 13 warships sponsored by the Continental Congress for a new American navy. The law also declared the seal to be 2 inches in diameter bearing the new inscription, ''SEAL • OF • THE • STATE • OF • NEW HAMPSHIRE,'' replacing the Latin phrase ''Sigillum Republica Neo Hantoniensis.'' The law also declared that only a granite boulder could be shown in the foreground. REFERENCES
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