TN sent us an historic tidbit with the hope that our good Junior Senator will keep it in mind with all the pathetic gun-control talk in Washington.
Iowa is one of five states in our fairly cursory check that has a firearm incorporated into the state’s official seal. Iowa’s state motto Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain is one of the most martial of mottoes of the fifty states.
Citizen soldier. The seal was approved during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848, and the citizen soldier depicted with a “liberty cap” represents volunteer soldiers from Iowa. Battles of the Mexican-American war are also memorialized in several place names, including the counties of Buena Vista, Palo Alto and Cerro Gordo. As is traditional in official symbols, weapons are held in the soldier’s left hand, and items of peace and freedom in the right.
The other states which incorporate a firearm are Delaware, Minnesota, Michigan and West Virginia. (corrections from a more thorough search are welcome). They are shown in their full glory below. We do note that a number of other states show clutches of arrows and spears, both classic representations of arms in heraldry.
The Wiki entries seam well referenced with information on the symbolism and also the pertinence of the state motto and other writing on the official state seals.
