Photo: New York State's Coat of Arms on the front of the Governor Alfred E. Smith State Office Building

Photographer: Howard C. Ohlhous
Taken: May 22, 2008
Caption: New York State's Coat of Arms on the front of the Governor Alfred E. Smith State Office Building
Additional Description: The buildings name, posted between the two front revolving doors. Above that is the Coat of Arms of New York State. The arms of New York State were officially adopted in 1778. The center shows a ship and sloop on the Hudson River bordered by a grassy shore and a mountain range with the sun rising behind it. Liberty and Justice stand on either side, under an American eagle. Liberty holds a staff topped with a Phrygian cap, symbolic of the cap given to a Roman slave upon the formal act of emancipation and freedom. This cap was adopted by French revolutionists as a symbol of liberty, especially in the U.S. before 1800. The figure of Justice is blindfolded and carries a sword in one hand and scales in the other. These symbols represent the impartiality and fairness required for the assignment of a merited reward or punishment. Below the shield a banner bears the State motto--"Excelsior"--which means "Ever Upward."
Submitted: May 31, 2008, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.
Database Locator Identification Number: p24612
File Size: 0.917 Megabytes

To see the metadata that may be embedded in this photo, sign in and then return to this page.