Seal of Kansas

The Great Seal of the State of Kansas tells the history of the U.S. state of Kansas.

The seal contains:

• Landscape with a rising sun (the east)
• River and steamboat (commerce)
• Settler's cabin and a man plowing a field (agriculture) [foreground]
• Wagon train heading west (American expansion / pioneer life)
• Native Americans hunting American Bison (the buffalo are fleeing from the Native Americans)
• Cluster of 34 stars (top of the seal) – identifying Kansas as the 34th state to be accepted into the Union of the United States.
• State motto "" (Latin: "To the Stars through Difficulties")

The seal is depicted on the Flag of the State of Kansas.

History

thumb|Kansas state [[Historical coats of arms of the U.S. states|historical coat of arms (illustrated, 1876)]]

The design for the Great Seal of Kansas was submitted by John James Ingalls, a state senator from Atchison. Ingalls also proposed the state motto, "Ad astra per aspera."

The Great Seal of the State of Kansas was established by a joint resolution adopted by the Kansas Legislature on May 25, 1861.