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State Seal |
On March 26, 1776, the Provincial Congress of South Carolina set up an independent government, electing John Rutledge, President. On April 2, 1776, the President and Privy Council were authorized by Resolution of the General Assembly "to design and cause to be made a Great Seal of South Carolina."
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* Both designs were turned over to an engraver in Charles Town and engraved as a great seal, which was used by Pres. Rutledge for the first time on May 22, 1777. The Seal was made in form of a circle, four inches in diameter, and four-tenths of an inch thick. |
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* Both
the arms and reverse symbolize the battle fought on June 28, 1776, between
the unnamed, and unfinished fort at Sullivan's Island (now Fort Moultrie),
and the British Fleet. |
Old Seal:
After the Declaration of Independence, a design for the arms of an official great seal, prepared by William Henry Drayton, a member of the Privy Council, was accepted, together with a design for the reverse, said to have been designed by Arthur Middleton.
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* This copy of one of the first seals of South Carolina appeared on March 28, 1785 in the nameplate of the State Gazette of South Carolina, a Charleston newspaper. The paper was published by Ann Timothy, the state's printer. |
