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 engraver added a border of [[acanthus (genus)|acanthus]] leaves. Depicting an eagle with a [[Crest (feathers)|crest]] is typical in heraldry, but is at odds with the official blazon of the seal which specifies a bald eagle (which have no crests). The blazon does not specify the arrangement of the stars (which were randomly placed in Thomson's sketch) nor the number of points; the engraver chose six-pointed stars (typical of English heraldry), and arranged them in a larger six-pointed star. No drawing made by the engraver has ever been found, and it is not known if Thomson provided any. This first die