Great Seal of Illinois

The bald eagle occupies the center of the seal, perched on a rock with wings spread. It is the same bird that appears on the Great Seal of the United States, and its placement on the Illinois seal is a direct reference to federal authority and the national republic. In its beak, the eagle holds the motto banner.

The eagle stands before a shield bearing 13 alternating red and white vertical stripes. The 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies, the same count that appears on the American flag and the Great Seal of the United States.

The motto "State Sovereignty, National Union" appears on a ribbon banner held in the eagle's beak. The phrase was chosen to express the constitutional balance between the authority of individual states and the authority of the federal government. Both concepts were politically live issues during Illinois's early statehood years.

Behind the eagle, a sun rises above the horizon, sending rays across the landscape. The rising sun is a common symbol on early American state seals and documents, representing a new beginning, westward expansion, or the dawn of self-governance. On the Illinois seal, it also functions as a literal landscape detail, suggesting the broad flat prairie horizon of the state.

The background of the seal shows a prairie landscape with what is interpreted as a body of water, likely representing the Mississippi River or Lake Michigan, two of the defining geographic boundaries of Illinois. Water and open land together represent the state's agricultural and commercial geography.

The date "Aug. 26th 1818" appears on the seal and refers to the signing of Illinois's first state constitution. Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, but the constitution that made statehood possible was adopted earlier, in August. The seal commemorates the founding document rather than the formal admission date.