Newton Councilors To Vote On Changing City Seal

NEWTON, MA — Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has requested City Council authorization to update the City Seal, which currently depicts an English Puritan preaching to Native people.

Fuller said the Ad Hoc City Seal Working Group has recommended an update to the current City Seal due to the outdated, 150-year-old design.

“Pictured is a Colonial authority telling a people that their ways of living and worshiping are wrong,” said the Working Group in the summary of its recommendation. "Certainly, most Newtonians would not want a symbol of cultural arrogance to represent their City made up of many faiths and cultures.”

What The Seal Currently Looks Like

The seal depicts the English missionary John Eliot preaching to a group of Native people under an oak tree, urging them to convert to Christianity and adopt English customs.

Beneath the image is the word “Nonantum” and above are the words “Liberty and Union.” An outer ring displays the years of Newton’s founding, its incorporation as a town, and its incorporation as a city.

The Working Group’s Recommendations

In their report, the Working Group made recommendations for what elements of the current seal to keep, to change, and to add. They recommend that the Newton City Seal:

• Retain the circular shape, for its official and traditional feel.
• Retain much of the content of the outer rings, as a link to previous iterations of the seal.
• Replace the scene of John Eliot evangelizing Waban and other Indigenous people with a more suitable image.
• Remove the word “Nonantum,” chosen by John Eliot for the short-lived (five years) settlement of Native Christians, in part because it is easily confused with Newton’s village of Nonantum which is at another entirely different location.
• Consolidate the City’s founding dates to read “Founded in 1630 on Massachusett land.” The Group feels that the years 1688 and 1873 are optional.
• Retain or omit the words “Liberty and Union,” depending on context of the final design.
• Be simplified to allow for accurate reproduction.

The Next Steps Toward A New City Seal

Updating the City Seal requires the City Council to vote to amend City Ordinance Section 1-8.

If City Councilors authorize moving forward with a new design, Newton will do a Request for Proposal (RFP) for graphic design services. Upon receipt of proposals to the RFP, the City Council will need to authorize the use of funds to hire the selected graphic design firm.

Several potential designs for the seal would then be created using the Creative Brief, included in the Working Group’s final report, as a general guide. The Creative Brief also includes a vision statement, design objectives, and seal applications.

"Through the design process I anticipate much opportunity for community input for refining and improving the design options before the City Council votes, as they have the ultimate authority on approving a final design,” said Fuller in a statement.