Great Seal of the Confederacy
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Medal with an equestrian portrait of George Washington, surrounded by a wreath composed of the principal agricultural products of the Confederacy including cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, wheat, and rice. Embossed around the edge, "The Confederate States of America: 22 February, 1862" and the motto <i>Deo Vindice</i>, or "God will vindicate." The medal rests in a wooden box covered in leather and lined in maroon velvet and green simulated watered silk.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: The date on the Confederate Seal commemorates the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederate States, and the establishment of the permanent government of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. When the seal was completed, it was delivered to James Mason, a confidential agent of the Confederacy in England. He selected Lieutenant R. T. Chapman of the Confederate navy to bring it to America. In order to avoid the naval blockade, Lt. Chapman was forced to take a long and circuitous route. He went from England to Halifax, Nova Scotia, then to the island of Bermuda, and finally to Wilmington, North Carolina. When the Confederate government evacuated Richmond in April of 1865, Mrs. William J. Bromwell, the wife of an official of the Confederate State Department, smuggled the seal from the doomed city. Together with an important part of the Confederate archives, the seal was hidden from federal forces in a barn near Richmond. It eventually made its way into the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, where it can be seen today.
topic: label: related event
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Civil War and Reconstruction
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
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content: Military
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content: Coins, Currency and Medals
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content: ThinkFinity
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. General Services Administration. National Archives and Records Service
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.0425.102
label: accession number
content: 1979.0425
label: catalog number
content: 1979.0425.102
objectType: label: Object Name
content: seal
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 in x 5 in x 1 in; 25.4 cm x 12.7 cm x 2.54 cm