Symbols of Sovereignty
The state has several symbols that represent its sovereignty and from where it was gained. The state House of Representatives has used a ceremonial mace since 1880. When the House is in session, the mace is placed in a specially designed rack in front of the Speaker of the House. The state Senate uses a Sword of State. The current Sword of State was a gift from Lord Halifax, a former British ambassador to the United States, and has been in use since 1951. The original Sword of State was obtained in 1704 and used by the Governor of the South Carolina Colony. The state flag originated to represent the militia that fought for independence in 1776. The Seal of South Carolina was adopted in 1776. The seals of the Senate and House incorporate the Sword of State and the Mace respectively.
Read more about this topic: List Of South Carolina State Symbols
Famous quotes containing the words symbols of, symbols and/or sovereignty:
“Luckless is the country in which the symbols of procreation are the objects of shame, while the agents of destruction are honored! And yet you call that member your pudendum, or shameful part, as if there were anything more glorious than creating life, or anything more atrocious than taking it away.”
—Savinien Cyrano De Bergerac (1619–1655)
“For all symbols are fluxional; all language is vehicular and transitive, and is good, as ferries and horses are, for conveyance, not as farms and houses are, for homestead.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff
That beetles o’er his base into the sea,
And there assume some other horrible form
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason,
And draw you into madness?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)