Great Seal of California

The Great Seal of the State of California
The Great Seal of the State of California, adopted by the state constitutional convention in 1849
Armiger	State of California
Adopted	1849 (followed by minor changes in 1883, 1891, and 1937)
Motto	Eureka

The Great Seal of the State of California was adopted at the California state Constitutional Convention of 1849 and has undergone minor design changes since then, the last being the standardization of the seal in 1937. The seal shows Athena in Greek mythology (alternately Minerva in Roman mythology), the goddess of wisdom and war, because she was born an adult, and California was never a territory; a California grizzly bear, the official state animal, feeding on grape vines, representing California's wine production; a sheaf of grain, representing agriculture; a miner, representing the California Gold Rush and the mining industry; and sailing ships, representing the state's economic power. The word Eureka (εύρηκα in Greek), meaning "I have found it", is the California state motto.

The original design of the seal was by U.S. Army major Robert S. Garnett and engraved by Albert Kuner. However, because of the friction then in existence between the military and civil authorities, Garnett was unwilling to introduce the design to the constitutional convention, so convention clerk Caleb Lyon introduced it as his own design, with Garnett's approval. Garnett later became the first general to be killed in the Civil War, where he served as a Confederate.