Great Seal of the State of Tennessee

Tennessee's General Assembly adopted its state seal in 1796, the same year Congress admitted Tennessee to the Union as the 16th state on June 1. The seal was designed to reflect the two industries that defined the new state's economy: farming in the fertile river valleys and trade along the waterways connecting Tennessee to wider markets.

The seal went through revisions over the following century as engraving standards changed and the legislature sought a more consistent official image. A standardization came in 1987, when Tennessee codified the current design by statute. The 1987 revision clarified each element's rendering and fixed the proportions required for official use.

The seal does not appear on Tennessee's state flag. The flag uses three stars in a blue circle on a red field to represent the state's three Grand Divisions: East, Middle, and West Tennessee. The seal functions on official documents, government correspondence, and legal instruments.

The Great Seal of Tennessee organizes its imagery around a vertical arrangement: the upper half contains agriculture symbols, the lower half a commerce scene, and the Roman numeral XVI at the center records the state's place in the Union.

The Tennessee state seal has retained its core composition since 1796, but has been re-engraved and revised multiple times. The agricultural symbols, the river and vessel, the Roman numeral XVI, and the motto "Agriculture and Commerce" have remained consistent across all versions. What changed over time was the quality and standardization of the rendering.