Great Seal of Pennsylvania

An eagle appears as the crest above the shield, with wings spread. Eagles were widely used in early American heraldry as a symbol of national sovereignty, and their presence on the Pennsylvania seal links the state's identity to the larger project of American independence.

The eagle's position above the shield places it as the highest element of the design, above the commercial and agricultural imagery below.

The shield is divided into three horizontal bands, each representing a different economic sector. Together they describe Pennsylvania's productive economy at the time of founding: ocean trade, inland farming, and grain production.

The choice to use an economic description rather than a historical scene or allegorical figure was deliberate. Pennsylvania's founders built a seal around what the state produced and how it worked.

A sailing ship under full sail occupies the upper third of the shield. It represents Pennsylvania's maritime commerce through Philadelphia, the primary port of the mid-Atlantic colonies and the busiest trading city in British North America before the Revolution.

Philadelphia's position on the Delaware River gave Pennsylvania direct access to Atlantic trade routes. By the 1770s, Philadelphia was exporting wheat, flour, and timber to Britain, the Caribbean, and southern Europe. The ship on the seal records this commercial identity.

A plow occupies the middle section of the shield, representing agriculture as the foundation of Pennsylvania's interior economy. Pennsylvania's farming population, concentrated in Lancaster and York counties and the broader Susquehanna Valley, made it one of the most productive agricultural regions in colonial North America.

The plow is not a decorative element. It specifies the kind of agriculture Pennsylvania practiced: large-scale field farming for export, not subsistence. Pennsylvania grain fed cities from Boston to the Caribbean.

Three sheaves of wheat appear in the lower third of the shield. Wheat was Pennsylvania's primary export commodity in the 18th century. Pennsylvania and its neighbors in the mid-Atlantic region were known as the 'breadbasket colonies' because of the volume of grain they produced.

The three sheaves likely represent abundance rather than a specific number with symbolic significance. Wheat appears twice on the seal, in the sheaves on the shield and implicitly in the plow above, reinforcing grain agriculture as the defining feature of Pennsylvania's economy.

Two black horses stand as supporters on either side of the shield, rearing upright with their forelegs raised. Black horses are rare in traditional heraldry, which typically uses specific tinctures with established meanings. Their inclusion in Pennsylvania's design makes the state seal visually distinct from most other American and European coats of arms.

Horses were essential to Pennsylvania's agricultural and transportation economy. They powered the plows, pulled the wagons that carried grain to Philadelphia's docks, and moved passengers and goods along the Lancaster Turnpike, one of the first major paved roads in the United States.

An olive branch and a cornstalk appear crossed beneath the shield at the base of the design. The olive branch is a traditional symbol of peace; the cornstalk represents the agricultural productivity of the American continent.

Together they frame the motto ribbon below and add a final layer of meaning to the design: Pennsylvania's commercial and agricultural prosperity exists within a framework of peace and civic order.

"Virtue, Liberty and Independence" is Pennsylvania's state motto, appearing on a ribbon below the shield. It was chosen in 1778 as a direct expression of Revolutionary-era political ideals. Each word addressed a specific concern of the founding generation.

Virtue referenced the moral character considered necessary for self-government; Liberty named the goal of independence from Britain; Independence specified the political status Pennsylvania had declared two years earlier in 1776. The three words formed a political program, not merely an aspiration.