The Great Seal of the State of Ohio has gone through many design changes since its origin in 1803. One seal included a farmer and blacksmith with their tools. Another featured a train and still another placed arrows in the sky above the sun and three shocks of wheat. Examples of the early designs are depicted throughout the Ohio Statehouse.
The Seal, as officially adopted in 1967, is a circular shield. In the right foreground, one sheaf of wheat represents Ohio's agricultural strength, and on the left, a bundle of 17 upright arrows, tied in the same fashion as the wheat, shows Ohio to be the 17th state to be admitted to the Union. In the background is a representation of Mount Logan in Ross County, with a three-quarter full sun rising behind it, radiating 17 rays in a semicircle. The Scioto River flows between the mountain and the cultivated fields in the foreground.
NOTE: The current seal, which was modified by the General Assembly in 1996, designates thirteen rays from the sun, signifying the 13 original colonies to the east of Ohio.
The design is said to have been suggested by Thomas Worthington, "Father of Ohio Statehood"; Edward Tiffin, first governor; and William Creighton, first secretary of state, when they emerged from an all-night meeting at Worthington's log house at Adena and saw the sun rise over Mount Logan.