What is the history and meaning of Penn’s seal?
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania have an official seal that is, in effect, the signature of the corporation. It had its origin at a meeting of the Board of Trustees in 1755 with Benjamin Franklin as Chairman. Though the seal underwent changes over the years, the most recent design, approved in 1932 and adopted in 1933, returned it to virtually its original form. The seal is composed of seven books stacked on a slanted desk top with the books bearing the following titles, representing the curriculum of the day, in the order from top to bottom: Theolog, Astronom, Philosoph, Mathemat, Logica, Rhetorica, Grammatica. On the periphery of the stack of books appears the University motto Leges Sine Moribus Vanae and the whole is encircled with the inscription Universitas Pennsylvaniensis.
