Virginia Seal

This is the front of the Virginia Seal of the Commonwealth, as it looked from 1776 to about 1894. It was designed by delegate George Wythe and described as: “Virtus, the genius of the Commonwealth, dressed like an Amazon, resting on a spear with one hand, and holding a sword in the other, and treading on Tyranny, represented by a man prostrate, a crown fallen from his head, a broken chain in his left hand, and a scourge in his right. In the exergon [margin] the word Virginia over the head of Virtus, and underneath, the words Sic Semper Tyrannis.”