Centennial Perspectives

The University Seal

The official University Seal was designed by Leon Winslow in 1914 to follow the format of the State Seal of Ohio. When faced with the problem of designing a seal for the new Normal College, Winslow suddenly remembered that William Creighton had felt the new Normal College was the rising sun of a great new institution of learning. He therefore decided to pattern his seal after the State Seal. It was, in contrast to the state seal, divided into four parts, the mountain range, the brilliant sun; the bundle of 17 arrows representing Ohio’s rank in the Union, and the sheaf of wheat to signify the great agricultural industry of the state. Around the outside of the main design were printed the words "Bowling Green State Normal College."

Several changes in the lettering have taken place in the seal, as the State Normal College became a State College and finally a University. In January 1958, Glenn Christian, University purchasing officer made a few minor revisions in the seal, including the addition of the buckeye, the state tree, and the carnation, the state flower. He also made minor changes in the sun’s rays, the fringe lines, and the type of lettering used.

Seal Legends

The next time you walk by the University Seal keep this in mind:

• If you stand on the seal at midnight and kiss your sweetheart, you will soon be married.
• If you and your sweetheart are holding hands and let go as you walk around opposite sides of the seal, you will soon break up
• If you pass to the right of the seal, you will do well on your next test.
• If you pass to the left of the seal, you will fail your next test.

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