Seal of Colby College

The Seal of Colby College is the official seal of Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The college was originally authorized to have a seal by its founding charter, granted by the Massachusetts General Court in 1813, in section 4: "Be it further enacted, That the said corporation may have one common seal, which they may change, break, or renew at the pleasure; and that all deeds signed and delivered by the Treasurer, and sealed with their seal, by order of the corporation, shall, when made in their corporate name, be considered in law, as the deed of the said corporation..." Presently, the seal figures prominently on college diplomas as well as other official communications and merchandise.

History and Revisions
The emblem of Colby University, c. 1895

The history of the seal tracks both the history of the school, which began under the name Maine Literary and Theological Institution, and sigillography generally.

The earliest known seal came while the school was called Colby University. It featured a sun in splendour with eight straight rays above the school's Latin motto, "Lux Mentis Scientia," meaning "Knowledge [is] the Light of the Mind." Surrounding the center are the words "Sigillum Universitatis Colbianae," meaning "the seal of Colby College", and two crossed olive branch with five leaves each. In 1899 the "university" was renamed Colby College, and a new seal was created with minor artistic changes to reflect the school's new name.

The Colby College Seal, c. 1899, reflecting the college's new name
The Colby College Seal, c. 1936, redesigned by William Addison Dwiggins

In 1936, President Franklin W. Johnson commissioned William Addison Dwiggins to design a seal to replace the one then existing, specifying only that it (1) used the same motto as the first and (2) retain the sun as the central theme. The cost of the design was $50.[1] The face on the sun was removed and the lettering and its positioning was changed.

In 2002, the college contracted with design firm Corey McPherson Nash for updates to its entire visual identity system, including the seal.[2] The current seal is set in Perpetua typeface around a sunburst. The seal is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark under registration number 2773337.[3]

References
  1. Colby College Echo, "Colby's Seal", January 14, 1948
  2. Colby College Echo, "College makes minor change to seal", September 5, 2002
  3. United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR) System: http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76456406&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch
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