Seal of Kansas

The symbols on the official state seal of Kansas were specified by the first Kansas legislature in 1861 (the year Kansas became one of the United States). The state seal can also be seen on the state flag of Kansas. All State Seals

Symbols on Kansas State Seal

The rising sun represents the east; the river and steamboat are symbols of commerce; the cabin, and the settler driving plow horses represent agriculture as the base for the future prosperity of the state of Kansas.

In the distance oxen draw a wagon train west, and a herd of buffalo is pursued by two native Americans on horseback (the American buffalo was adopted as the official state animal of Kansas in 1955); herds of buffalo numbering in the millions once roamed Kansas (correct name is "American bison").

In the sky are thirty-four stars (Kansas was the thirty-fourth state admitted to the Union) with the state motto above: "Ad astra per aspera "("To the stars through difficulties").