Unofficial Seals
Because the official Senate seal is used only to authenticate official Senate documents, and not normally as a general visual symbol, the Secretary of the Senate has also authorized an alternative, non-official Senate seal. This alternative seal, which features an eagle clutching arrows and an olive branch in its talons, surrounded by the words "United States Senate," is commonly used by Senate offices and is often displayed on items sold in the Senate gift shop. Even more commonly seen perhaps is a version of the Great Seal of the United States (which also depicts an eagle clutching arrows and an olive branch in its claws) surrounded by a similar inscription. These often appear on Senate web pages, on podiums when senators speak, and other situations. The House of Representatives also uses similar designs for their unofficial seals, and since the United States Congress as a whole does not have an official seal, similar designs are often used with a Congress inscription.
Both the Senate Seal and the Great Seal are protected by 18 U.S.C. ยง 713, a criminal statute which restricts the knowing display of the Senate Seal or the Great Seal or any facsimile thereof in any manner reasonably calculated to convey a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States. The Senate ethics manual states that in most cases use of the Senate Seal or the Great Seal for normal official Senate business would be appropriate; however, commercial use, personal use or campaign use by senators would be improper. Additionally, campaign use of any of the unofficial, alternate seals would also be improper. The manual suggests that senators who want to show a symbol of government on campaign material use a depiction of the United States Capitol dome. In 2005, Representative Duke Cunningham was found to be selling items on a personal web site which included the unofficial Congress seal, which were shortly thereafter discontinued. Similarly, Senator Richard Durbin was dinged by a few bloggers after his campaign site showed a video message where an unofficial Senate seal (the Great Seal variant) appeared in one corner; the video was quickly taken down.
Read more about this topic: Seal Of The United States Senate
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