Great Seal of Australia#State and territory seals

The Great Seal of Australia is provided for by letters patent signed by Queen Victoria in 1900.{{Cite web |date=29 October 1900 |title=Letters Patent constituting the office of Governor-General of Australia (UK) |url=https://www.naa.gov.au/learn/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/government-and-democracy/federation/letters-patent-constituting-office-governor-general-australia-uk |website=National Archives of Australia |quote=There shall be a Great Seal of and for Our said Commonwealth which Our said Governor General shall keep and use for sealing all things whatsoever that shall pass the said Great Seal. Provided that until a Great Seal shall be provided the Private Seal of Our said Governor General may be used as the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Australia.}} The first great seal was chosen in a competition in 1901 with entries by Bulletin cartoonist DH Souter and painter Blamire Young chosen for the design.{{Cite book |last=Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/national-symbols-booklet-accessible-300dpi_0.pdf |title=Australian Symbols |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-642-47131-4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517041009/https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/national-symbols-booklet-accessible-300dpi_0.pdf |archive-date=17 May 2023 |url-status=live}} Some other changes were made and the seal arrived in Australia after being produced by the Royal Mint in 1904. Before it arrived, the personal seal of the governor-general was used. The first seal depicts on one side the arms of Great Britain surrounded by the arms of the States of Australia. The other side depicts a woman on a charger, carrying a shield with a Union Jack design and in the hand a palm. Behind her is an image of the sun and beneath is the words Advance Australia.{{cite news |date=11 September 1901 |title=Australia's First Great Seal |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89443768 |accessdate=7 September 2023 |newspaper=Bendigo Advertiser |location=Victoria, Australia |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=XLVIX |issue=14,391}} This design also features on the mace of the House of Representatives.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=13 November 2019 |title=Questions on Notice: Mace Head Revisited |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/About_the_House_News/News/Questions_on_Notice_Mace_head_revisited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521022115/https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/About_the_House_News/News/Questions_on_Notice_Mace_head_revisited |archive-date=21 May 2022 |access-date= |website=Parliament of Australia |language=en-AU}}

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Obverse of the 1901 Great Seal of Australia.jpg|Obverse of the winner of the Great Seal competition, designed by David Henry Souter|

Reverse of the 1901 Great Seal of Australia.jpg|Reverse of the winner of the Great Seal competition, designed by Blamire Young|

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The seal of King George VI had the design slightly modified, with the swan of Western Australia changing direction and the cross of Queensland being corrected. The arms of South Australia were also replaced. The border of words was also modified with another line of text used. The seal did not arrive in Australia until 1938.

In 1947, the seal was modified to remove the words referencing the King's title of "Emperor of India" following its independence.

The another design was authorised by Elizabeth II on 17 February 1954 while presiding over the Federal Executive Council in Canberra during her first visit as reigning monarch.{{cite news |date=17 February 1954 |title=Authorises Use Of New Great Seal |page=4 |newspaper=Morning Bulletin |issue=29,496 |location=Queensland, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57284315 |accessdate=7 September 2023 |via=National Library of Australia}}

The another design was authorised by Elizabeth II on 19 October 1973 during another of her visits to Australia. It featured the coat of arms of Australia, beneath the words Elizabeth the Second and above the words Queen of Australia.{{Cite news |last=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |date=10 May 2019 |title=The Governor-General and the Great Seal |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/news-centre/government/governor-general-and-great-seal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410010750/https://www.pmc.gov.au/news-centre/government/governor-general-and-great-seal |archive-date=10 April 2020}} The badge of South Australia was also changed back to a piping strike. On this occasion, the Queen also took on the style Queen of Australia, signifying the separate constitutional identity of the monarch from her role in other Commonwealth realms.{{cite web |title=Royal Style and Titles Act 1973 (Cth) |url=http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-28.html |access-date=3 November 2015 |publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy}} The design was chosen from the following proposals:

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Proposed Great Seal of Australia 1 (1970s).png|

Proposed Great Seal of Australia 2 (1970s).png|

Proposed Great Seal of Australia 3 (1970s).png|

Proposed Great Seal of Australia 4 (1970s).png|

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The current design was authorised on 21 October 2024 by King Charles III during his first visit to Australia as monarch. The design is a modification of the previous seal, with the text referencing the monarch removed. Guardian Australia reports that the design was chosen to allow it to be used in perpetuity.

Under the New South Wales constitution, the governor formally provides, keeps and uses the "Public Seal of the State".{{Cite Legislation AU|NSW|act|ca1902188|Constitution Act 1902|9H}} In fact, the seal is kept at the New South Wales cabinet office and is used by government officials.{{Cite book |last=Twomey |first=Anne |title=The constitution of New South Wales |date=2004 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1-86287-516-6 |location=Sydney |pages=680–1}} On 17 January 1861, the governor demanded to use the seal on a deed, however the premier advised against this and threaten to resign if the governor acted otherwise. The governor insisted he be given the seal, so the premier did so, but resigned along with the rest of the ministry. The governor then relented, returning the seal and refused to accept the resignations. However, the governor later fled Sydney on the day of his term expiring in order to avoid a censure motion, being debated in Parliament on the same day.

The first seal of the New South Wales government was granted by King George III in 1790. Its design was used for the second seal in 1817 and a third seal in 1827. It depicted convicts landing at Botany Bay, taking off their shackles and engaging in Industry.{{Cite web |date=1 September 2012 |title=The Third Great Seal of NSW 1827 - 1832 |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Heritage/research/heraldry/thirdseal.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611033115/https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Heritage/research/heraldry/thirdseal.htm |archive-date=11 June 2020 |website=NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment}} The description for the seal in its royal warrant is as follows:{{Cite web |date=1 September 2012 |title=The First (or Territorial) Seal of New South Wales of 1790 - 1817 |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Heritage/research/heraldry/firstseal.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611110520/https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Heritage/research/heraldry/firstseal.htm |archive-date=11 June 2020 |website=NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment}}

{{Blockquote|text=Convicts landed at Botany Bay; their fetters taken off and received by Industry, sitting on a bale of goods with her attributes, the distaff, bee-hive, pick axe, and spade, pointing to an oxen ploughing, the rising habitations, and a church on a hill at a distance, with a fort for their defence. Motto: {{lang|la|Sic fortis etruria crevit}} [{{gloss|So, I think, this is how brave Etruria grew}}]; with this inscription round the circumference, {{lang|la|Sigillum Nov. Camb. Aust.}} [{{gloss|Seal New South Wales}}]}}

The fourth seal granted in 1832 by King William IV modified this design, inserting the royal arms above the convict symbolism. The fifth seal granted on the ascension of Queen Victoria kept this design, but removed without explanation the motto {{lang|la|Sic fortis etruria crevit}} (a quote from Virgil's Georgics alluding to the rise of Etruria and the Etruscans and the future greatness the colony could aspire to as a result of expansion of agriculture and industry).{{Cite web |last=Midford |first=Sarah |title=Vergil in the Antipodes: the Classical Tradition and Colonial Australian Literature |url=https://classicalstudies.org/vergil-antipodes-classical-tradition-and-colonial-australian-literature |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=Society for Classical Studies}}{{cite news |date=23 November 1909 |title=Sic Fortis Etruria Crevit |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230482359 |accessdate=3 February 2024 |newspaper=The Star |location=New South Wales, Australia |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia |issue=220}}

The sixth seal was granted in 1870 removed all references to the convict past of New South Wales and instead emphasised the agricultural prosperity of the colony. The convict imagery was replaced by a golden fleece between two Prince of Wales' feathers beneath the royal arms above nine stars.{{Cite web |date=1 September 2012 |title=The Sixth Great Seal 1870 - 1905 |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Heritage/research/heraldry/sixthseal.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611031350/https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Heritage/research/heraldry/sixthseal.htm |archive-date=11 June 2020 |website=NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment}} The golden fleece had become a symbol of New South Wales and it depicted on the current coat of arms. The feathers were a pun referring to the colony's name, while also referencing chivalry and the ancient Principality of Wales. The shedding of convict emblems reflected the increasingly distinct personality the colony had compared with the imperial mother country.

In 1912 the seal's design was changed to include the coat of arms of New South Wales. At least by 2004, the seal depicted a hybrid of the New South Wales coat of arms and the royal arms, with the rising sun that appears above the shield of the NSW arms replaced with the shield of the royal arms.{{Cite book |last=Twomey |first=Anne |title=The constitution of New South Wales |date=2004 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1-86287-516-6 |location=Sydney |page=682}} Around the edge of the seal were the words "{{Smallcaps|new south wales}}" and "{{Smallcaps|elizabeth ii d g br terr avst regn svorvm cet reg consortionis popvlorvm priceps f d}}" meaning {{Gloss|Elizabeth II, by Grace of God of Great Britain, Australia, and of her other Realms and Territories Queen}}. In 2004, consideration was given to changing the seal to remove the depiction of the royal arms. In 2013 a new seal was created, which depicts only the New South Wales coat of arms.{{Cite journal |date=22 February 2013 |title=Public Seal of the State |url=https://gazette.nsw.gov.au/gazette/2013/2/2013-28.pdf#page=33 |journal=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales |volume=28 |page=461 |at=}}{{Cite web |date=17 April 2019 |title=NSW Letters Patent |url=https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2021-11/NSW%20Letters%20Patent%2017%20April%202019.pdf |website=Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability}}

{{gallery|Great Seal of New South Wales (1827-1832).jpg|Great Seal of New South Wales (1827-1832)|Great Seal of New South Wales, reverse (1828).jpg|Reverse of the first Great Seal of NSW|Great Seal of New South Wales (1870-1905).jpg|Great Seal of New South Wales (1870-1905)|width=180|height=180|align=center|Great Seal of New South Wales (1937-1952).jpg|Great Seal of New South Wales (1937-1952)|

Great Seal of New South Wales (2013 to present).png|2013 to present}}

The seal of Victoria depicts the royal arms on the top half and sheep grazing on the bottom half. Inscribed around the outside is "{{Langx|la|Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Britanniarium Terrae Australis Regnorumque Suorum Ceterorum Regina, Consortionis Populorum Princeps, Fideo Defensor|label=none}}".File:Great Seal of Victoria.png|center]]

The letters-patent establishing the colony of Queensland as an entity separate from New South Wales granted the governor the authority to keep and use the "Great Seal of the Colony".{{Cite web |last=Queen Victoria |date=6 June 1859 |title=Letters Patent erecting Colony of Queensland |url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/qld1i_doc_1859.pdf |website=Documenting a Democracy |publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy |quote=And we do hereby authorise and empower you the said Sir George Ferguson Bowen to keep and use the Great Seal of our said colony for sealing all things whatsoever that shall pass the Great Seal of our said colony}} The only surviving depiction of the seal is a hand seal for wax impressions, which depicts Queen Victoria on the Coronation Chair.{{Cite book |last=Kross |first=Gary |title=History of the public seal of the colony and state of Queensland |date=April 2000 |id=Libraries Australia ID 40630245}} It is held by the Queensland Museum. After federation, a new seal design was created, which depicted the coat of arms of the UK held by a lion, next to the coat of arms of Queensland held by a kangaroo, above a banana tree. It was designed by Mr JW Purvis, a die maker and engraver following a public competition.{{cite news |date=26 September 1901 |title=Queensland State Seal |volume=LVIII |page=4 |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |issue=13,637 |location=Queensland, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19148839 |via=National Library of Australia}} The inscription of the seal changed on the ascension of each monarch and the change of style of Queen Elizabeth II to Queen of Australia. The most current inscription reads "{{Smallcaps|elizabeth the second by the grace of god queen of australia and her other realms and territories in the commonwealth}}".

{{gallery|Seal of the Colony of Queensland.jpg|Early seal of the Colony of Queensland|Design for Seal of Queensland.jpg|Current design for the Seal of State of Queensland|Public Seal of Queensland (Queen Elizabeth II).png |Current seal|width=180|height=180|align=center}}

The great seal of Western Australia originally depicted the Royal Coat of Arms of the UK above a black swan. It was used from 1837 until at least 1952.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49029651 |title=Wanted, One Coat of Arms |newspaper=The West Australian |volume=68 |issue=20,526 |location=Western Australia |date=3 May 1952 |page=19 |via=National Library of Australia}} In 2004, a new seal was granted by the governor, exercising the powers of the monarch as conferred on him by section 7 of the Australia Act 1986.{{Cite journal |date=29 December 2004 |title=Proclamation of a new Public Seal of the State of Western Australia |url=https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/gazettestore.nsf/FileURL/gg2004_235.pdf/$FILE/Gg2004_235.pdf?OpenElement |journal=Western Australian Government Gazette |volume=235}} It depicts the coat of arms of Western Australia surrounded by the words "{{Smallcaps|the great seal of western australia}}".

{{gallery|Seal of Western Australia.jpg|Seal of Western Australia (1837–2004)

|Great Seal of Western Australia (2004 to present).png|Current Seal of Western Australia (2004 to present)|width=180|height=180|align=center}}

The public seal of South Australia depicts the royal arms above the state badge: a piping shrike on a gold circle.{{Cite web |date=1900 |title=The public seal of South Australia [PRG 280/1/43/626] • Photograph |url=https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+280/1/43/626 |website=State Library of South Australia}} This design remains in use.{{Cite web |date=31 March 2025 |title=Writ for the Election of Senators [for South Australia] |url=https://www.aec.gov.au/election/fe25/files/writs/Senate%20writ%20-%20SA%20(A5766600).pdf |website=Australian Electoral Commission}}File:Public Seal of South Australia (~1900).jpg

• Seal of New Zealand
• Great Seal of the Realm (UK)
• Great Seal of Canada

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• {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDzQiAPUsNQ |title=The Great Seal Reveal - the validity of seals in Australia |date=11 January 2025 |last=Twomey |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Twomey (academic) |type=Video |language=en |series=Constitutional Clarion |via=YouTube}}

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Category:National symbols of Australia

Australia

Category:Monarchy of Australia