Seal of New York City Seal of New York City The seal of New York City, designed in 1915 and adapted from an earlier form dating back in 1686, bears the legend which means simply "The Seal of the City of New York": "Eboracum" was the Roman name for York in Latin, the titular seat of James II as Duke of York. York was founded by the Romans in 70 AD. The two supporters represent the unity between Native Americans and colonists: dexter, a sailor colonist holds a plummet—a navigational tool—in his right hand, while over his right shoulder is a cross-staff; sinister, a Lenape
Eboracum "Eburaci", on a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda in what is now the modern Northumberland. During the Roman period, the name was written both "Eboracum" and "Eburacum" (in nominative form) . The name "Eboracum" comes from the Common Brittonic "Eburākon", which means "yew tree place". The word for "yew" was "*ebura" in Proto-Celtic (cf. Old Irish "ibar" "yew-tree", (older "iobhar"), , "alder buckthorn", "alder buckthorn"), combined with the proprietive suffix "*-āko(n)" "having" (cf. Welsh "-og", Gaelic "-ach") meaning "yew tree place" (cf. "efrog" in Welsh, "eabhrach/iubhrach" in Irish Gaelic and "eabhrach/iobhrach" in Scottish Gaelic, by which