Massachusetts state seal commission wants your opinion on symbol redesign
By Sam Doran, State House News Service
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JUNE 14, 2023 (State House News Service) - The commission tasked with overhauling Massachusetts' state seal and motto voted Wednesday to move ahead with a UMass Boston survey to solicit public input on the redesign.
Created in 2021, the slow-moving State Seal Commission has received multiple deadline extensions, most recently to Nov. 15, 2023, and last fall the Legislature awarded it a $100,000 budget.
The current 18th century seal portrays an indigenous person on a shield below a crest that features an arm holding a sword, which advocates have long said represents violence and oppression toward the indigenous population.
The commission last year brainstormed potential ideas ranging from flora and fauna, like a pine tree or a chickadee, to geographic features like the ocean.
Co-chair Brian Boyles said the panel is looking at an approximately $85,000 scope of work in partnering with the UMass Boston Center for Survey Research. Commissioners approved proceeding with the survey pending their approval of its final contents.
Vice Chair Brittney Walley said she hoped the "random sampling" of the state, including both online and snail-mail responses, will present "an image of what our commonwealth has to say" about a new emblem and motto. She added that the commission would strategically solicit responses from non-random respondents such as the Institute for New England Native American Studies.
After missing its last few deadlines, Boyles requested that the commission now work on an internal Oct. 15 deadline ahead of its statutory November goal for delivering recommendations back to the Legislature.
