INDIANAPOLIS (January 31, 2013) – Today, Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson presented the Indiana Court of Appeals seal to chief Judge Margaret Robb.  The seal was requested by the Court of Appeals to be used in certification of official documents. 

 The State law requires all official state records, laws, acts, official bonds, registers, rules or papers are certified with the State Seal by the Indiana Secretary of State.  State law requires the Secretary of State to provide other agencies with a seal.  The Indiana Court of Appeals seal has a set of scales over the state of Indiana with the word “Equal Justice Under Law.”

Both the 1816 and the 1851 state constitutions indicate the State of Indiana shall have a seal.  However, the State Seal was not officially adopted by the General Assembly until 1963.  The design of the Indiana State Seal was modeled after the Northwest Territory seal and includes a setting sun, buffalo, sycamore trees and three hills.  The official description of the State Seal can be found in Indiana Code 1-2-4-1.