Great Seal of Louisiana

Louisiana became the 18th state on April 30, 1812, and the pelican was chosen as the central image of the first state seal at statehood. The choice drew on a symbol already present in the territory's colonial and Catholic heritage. French and Spanish colonial administrators had both used pelican imagery in the region, and the pelican as a Christian symbol of self-sacrifice was familiar across Louisiana's heavily Catholic population.

The motto Union, Justice and Confidence was adopted with the seal. The three words reflected the political priorities of a new state that had belonged to France, then Spain, then France again before the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 brought it into the American orbit, only nine years before statehood.

The pelican design has been revised and standardized since 1812, but the core image has never changed. The mother pelican feeding her young in the nest has remained the center of Louisiana's official emblems through every revision.

The Great Seal of Louisiana builds its symbolism around a single central heraldic image and a motto, making it among the more focused designs in American state heraldry.

Louisiana's state seal has been revised and standardized multiple times since 1812. The core design, the pelican in her piety with the motto Union, Justice and Confidence, has remained constant through every revision. Changes over time have addressed the rendering of the pelican figure, the proportions of the nest and nestlings, and the border text around the circular design.