VISUAL IDENTITY GUIDE

Seal

The seal is the University's most solemn symbol, dating from before the University offered its first class. It is reserved for use on diplomas, certificates, letterhead (as described in Stationery System), and other official documents.

The seal and its lettering are a single piece of art and are not to be manipulated in any way, including resetting the lettering in a font, changing the proportions of the seal or any part of it, incorporating other words within the border, or printing it in more than one color.

The seal of The University of Alabama must always be considered as an inseparable unit and must not be manipulated in any way. The rope circlet, the lettering, the drawing in the middle, and the fact that it is a circle are all part of the whole. Use the seal in its entirety and its original circular shape.

(Note: some non-standard uses of the seal, such as the oval seals for the Capstone College of Nursing and the College of Education, were grandfathered in for approved use.)

The original seal was commissioned by Governor Israel Pickens, who on April 20, 1822, wrote to a firm of artisans in Philadelphia requesting a "neat & appropriate" emblem that would "significantly represent the light of science beaming on this hemisphere." The central figure is Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom.