New Orleans City Seal.
I went to my least favorite place in the world. Abandon hope all ye who enter here.
It wasn’t bad, but it was only my second visit for this errand. Updates to follow since I have to back again, of course. It wouldn’t be New Orleans if things were efficient. A fish’s head is the last thing to rot.
Aside from the modernist architecture, the file in the cake of City Hall’s décor are the murals on the ground floor. They depict dirty, broken sidewalks. It’s just the way things are. Civic pride takes many forms.
The planters in front of City Hall used to be gray, unfinished. Who thought to paint them blue? It must be the employee of the month. They sure look cheerful!
The city seal is carved over the front door. Nobody ever uses it. Most people vaguely recognize it, but it rarely appears unless it is on something super-official. Since most things that come out of City Hall are superficial, a simple flour-de-lis usually suffices.
Nobody has a tattoo of the New Orleans city seal.
The current seal was adopted in 1852. Variations have appeared over the years. Of course, Mayor Cantrell had to fiddle with it. She made the Indians darker. It was the most momentous decision she has made under her leadership.
Even a dog knows what you call a leader with no followers.
What the New Orleans city seal consists of:
“Below and partly within the semicircular inscription 'City of New Orleans' an Indian brave and maiden stand on each side of the shield, upon which a recumbent nude figure is shown saluting the sun rising above mountains and sea. Above the shield are twenty-five circularly grouped stars, and below, an alligator.”
Nobody knows what any of this means. Why twenty-five stars? Before you say that Louisiana is the 25th state, think again. It was the 18th.
Why are two Indians posing next to a shield with a picture that makes no sense on it? Like most things in New Orleans, the only explanation is a shrug.
Some people baselessly say for no reason that the man saluting the sun (more like looking at it) represents the Mississippi River. Perhaps. What he is doing in a mountain valley, nobody knows. There are no mountains anywhere near New Orleans. I think the closest are the Ozarks. There are some in Tennessee. I drove through them, once. Paid subscribers can read about that hair-raising trip in the archives.
My favorite version of the city seal is from 1912. I like the jaunty ribbon atop the crest.
I only count fifteen stars in the 1912 version. Where did the missing stars go. They are back with a vengeance now.
Who knows what is supposed to be on the shield now. The Indians, unlike everyone else, have gained a sense of modesty with the passage of time.
In other news…
Blue Expedite Oleander Water Perfume is about to launch. Right on!
