File:Seal of the United States Department of the Interior.svg

Seal of the United States Department of the Interior.

The seal consists of a male buffalo with the head and body in a left position, standing on a prairie, with mountains and a rising sun in the background, enclosed within two concentric circles, having the words "U.S. Department of the Interior" and the date "March 3, 1849" (when Congress created the department) inscribed in the top and bottom arcs within these circles. See here for more information.

The buffalo seal dates from 1917, when it was used as the emblem on the initial department flag and thereafter replaced the old version of the seal, which used a federal eagle. The eagle was reinstated for a few years in the 1920s, and a different seal was used from 1968-69, but on both occasions the buffalo seal was reinstated. For more information see this chapter in The Department of Everything Else: Highlights of Interior History.

Extracted from PDF file here (the 2007 Web brochure linked on this page).

U.S. federal government

Public domain, but other legal restrictions apply. The seal may not be used in connection with any commercial or other unofficial enterprise without the written approval of the custodian of the seal.[1]

• US-DeptOfTheInterior-Seal.png

  Bitmap version

• US-DeptOfTheInterior-Seal1937.jpg

  Version from 1937

• Olddoilogo.png

  Seal used in 1968-69 only

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  Original 1849-1913 seal

• Flag of the United States Department of the Interior.png

  Flag of the U.S. Department of the Interior, adopted in 2001.

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  Flag of the U.S. Department of the Interior, as it was in 1916.

• Flag of the United States Secretary of the Interior (1917-1934).png

  Flag of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, used from 1917 to 1934.