COUNCILMAN CALLS FOR NEW VERSION OF SAN DIEGO CITY SEAL
Joe LaCava says current imagery glorifies history of the missionaries
Councilman Joe LaCava is criticizing San Diego’s 107-year-old city seal for glorifying conquistadors who took land from indigenous people and for focusing too much on industries of the past like manufacturing and agriculture.
LaCava, who was elected in November to represent north coastal areas including La Jolla and Carmel Valley, says San Diego needs a new seal focused on the binational city’s diversity and proximity to the Mexican border.
“The current city seal erases the history of the Indigenous Peoples who occupied this land long before us, and glorifies those who stole it,” LaCava said in a news release. “Words matter, symbols matter, actions matter. It’s time we take action to right this wrong.”
LaCava’s proposal, which he posted on Twitter, mostly drew opposition on the social media site.
Edgar Martinez called LaCava an “imbecile,” contending the ship on the city seal represents San Diego’s “rich maritime history” and urged LaCava to get to work on “real” issues.
PJ Potter offered similar sentiments.
“A better use of time is getting the brand of hot dogs changed that they sell at Petco — I can name 50 other issues that you were elected to help fix before this!!”
LaCava says city officials sought public feedback in 1913 and 1914 before choosing the seal, so it makes sense to re-start that process and create a more modern version.
“A seal is meant to represent identity, and right now ours says that San Diego is rooted in the past,” LaCava said. “An update is needed to better portray our city’s connection with a forward-looking economy, our diversity, as well as our unique connection to the border and our bi-national region.” LaCava said his proposal was partly inspired by students at Tierrasanta’s Junipero Serra High School who successfully got the name of the school changed this month to Canyon Hills High School because of Serra’s contro
versial history as founder of California’s mission system.
The city’s website says some elements of the seal, including its belfry, honor the city’s early settlement by missionaries who sought to “Christianize” the indigenous people already living in the area.
The seal was designed by architect Carleton Monroe Winslow, who also designed multiple buildings for Balboa Park’s Panama-California nous Exposition and the iconic Bishop’s School in La Jolla. City leaders adopted the seal on April 15, 1914.
While many residents are unfamiliar with the seal, it appears on doors and windows in many city buildings and is used on some city documents.