Seal of Mississippi Seal of Mississippi The Great Seal of the State of Mississippi was adopted in 2014, replacing the previous version that was used since the 19th century. The eagle is positioned in the center of the seal, with its wings spread wide and its head held high. Stars and stripes adorn its chest. In its talons, the eagle grasps an olive branch symbolizing a desire for peace and a quiver of arrows representing the power to wage war. The outer circle of the seal contains the text "The Great Seal of the State of Mississippi" at the top and the words
Great Seal of the United States Over its head there appears a "glory" with 13 mullets (stars) on a blue field. In the current (and several previous) dies of the great seal, the 13 stars above the eagle are arranged in rows of 1-4-3-4-1, forming a six-pointed star. The 1782 resolution of Congress adopting the arms, still in force, legally blazoned the shield as "Paleways of 13 pieces, argent and gules; a chief, azure." As the designers recognized, this is a technically incorrect blazon under traditional English heraldic rules, since in English practice a vertically striped [[shield would be described as "[[Pale (heraldry)|paly]]", not "paleways", and