Supervisors Vote To Restore Cross To LA County Seal

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a motion to add a cross back to the LA County seal after a nearly 10-year absence.

The 3-2 vote in the 9:30 a.m. meeting approved the change to the seal after the cross was removed during a redesign in 2004, when the American Civil Liberties Union threatened legal action.

Part of the seal, which featured a small cross over the Hollywood Bowl, was replaced by a picture of the San Gabriel Mission.

At the time of the redesign, the mission's cross was not mounted on the building due to retrofitting. It was later reattached in 2009, making the seal inaccurate, according to Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Don Knabe.

"To accurately reflect the role of the San Gabriel Mission in the historical and cultural development of Los Angeles County, today's action corrects the current rendering of the mission on the county seal which is artistically and architecturally inaccurate," Antonovich said. "We appreciate the input and participation from the community whose strong support for the mission, its significance to our county and the need to ensure the architectural accuracy of the county seal, resulted in today's action."

The two supervisors introduced the motion, ensuring the change was not about promoting Christianity, but about making the depiction of the mission accurate.