Massachusetts panel explores changes to state seal, motto

By MARK PRATT
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — The commission appointed to come up with a new state seal and motto for Massachusetts to replace the current ones that critics decry as racially insensitive to the state’s Indigenous communities has some ideas, but has made no firm decisions. The Special Commission on the Official Seal and Motto of the Commonwealth at its meeting Tuesday also disclosed plans to solicit feedback with a survey and several virtual and in-person public forums. The current seal that appears on state flags, which dates to the late 19th century, features a depiction of a Native American man beneath a colonist’s arm brandishing a sword.