The Seal of the State of Colorado is a 2 1/2 inch round seal adapted from the original territorial seal. The only changes made were the replacement of the territorial seals top inscription with “State of Colorado” and the date inscription with “1876″. On March 15th, 1877, the first General Assembly of the State of Colorado approved the seal.

Colorado State Statute CRS 24-80-901 details the design of the seal:

“By statute, the Seal of the State is two and one-half inches in diameter with the following device inscribed thereon: A heraldic shield, the upper portion of which depicts three snow capped mountains with clouds surrounding them; the lower part consists of a miner’s badge, as prescribed by the rules of heraldry; as a crest above the shield, the eye of God with rays proceeding from the lines of a triangle; below the crest, and above the shield, as a scroll, is the Roman “fasces” which is a bundle of sticks with an ax blade projecting, bound by a band imprinted with the words, “Union and Constitution”; below the whole motto, “Nil Sine Numine,” which commonly translated means “Nothing Without Providence”; the whole is surrounded by the words, “State of Colorado,” and the figures, “1876,” the year of Colorado’s statehood.”

As you’ll note, the specific color scheme of the seal is not addressed in the original statute. So, by way of and Executive Order in 1976, the official colors of the seal we put into law:

Red: The sky behind the mountains, the single band with the word “UNION” and the ring containing the words “STATE OF COLORADO, 1876″;

White: The snowcaps of the three mountains, the clouds surrounding the mountains, the band with the word “AND”, the banner containing the words “NIL SINE NUMINE“, the triangle of the Eye of God, the fasces, and innermost ring;

Dark Blue: The mountains, the background behind the shield, the single band with the word “CONSTITUTION”, and the six stars dividing the year of statehood from the lettering “STATE OF COLORADO”, the two dots separating the words “STATE OF COLORADO”;

Gold: The Eye of God, the rays emanating from the Eye, the background in the lower shield, the small decorative circles on the innermost white ring, and the ring situated between the red ring and outer silver ring of the seal;

Silver: The outside ring of the seal, the lettering “STATE OF COLORADO” and “1876″, the ax head, the heads of both miner’s tools, the two bands binding the fasces behind the two bands entitled “UNION” “CONSTITUTION”, the outline of the shield, and the dividing line between the upper and lower portions of the shield;

Brown: The handles of the miner’s tools, the handle of the ax;

Black: The lettering of the words “UNION”, “AND”, “CONSTITUTION”, the words “NIL SINE NUMINE“, the outline tracing the cascade of the banner containing the words “NIL SINE NUMINE“, the outlines encircling the small decorative circles on the innermost white circle, and the outlines of the single band “AND”. ”

In accord with state statute CRS 24-80-903, the Secretary of State is the only individual granted authority to affix and monitor the usage of the seal. In fact, statute CRS 24-80-902 states that “Illegal use of the seal is a class 5 felony.” However, since the office of the Secretary of State recieved so many requests for permission to use the seal, the State Secretary made the following provisions:

1. The actual seal itself, measuring two and one-half inches in diameter, may be used only by the Secretary of State in an official capacity.
2. A facsimile of the seal, which is any size except two and one-half inches in diameter, may be used by an agency, organization or group authorized or established by an arm of the State of Colorado for official state functions, or for educational purposes.
3. A facsimile of the seal may not be used by any private organization, business, or political organization.