The elements and basic design instructions for Florida's State Seal were established by the Legislature in 1868. Early that year, Florida's newly adopted State Constitution had directed that:"The Legislature shall, at the first session, adopt a seal for the state, and such seal shall be the size of an American silver dollar, but said seal shall not again be changed after its adoption by the Legislature." So the Legislature, acting quickly upon the mandate, passed and sent to Governor Harrison Reed a Joint Resolution on August 6, 1868 specifying "That a Seal of the size of the American silver dollar, having in the center thereof a view of the sun's rays over a high land in the distance, a cocoa tree, a steamboat on water, and an Indian female scattering flowers in the foreground, encircled by the words, 'Great Seal of the State of Florida: In God We Trust', be and the same is hereby adopted as the Great Seal of the State of Florida." Some people also consider the "In God We Trust" phrase the State Motto, although there is no official designation of a State Motto in the Florida Statutes. Florida's present Constitution, (Art. II, Sec. 4), continues to require the seal to be prescribed by law. In 1970, more than 100 years after the first specifications were drawn, the Florida Legislature made one change in the official description (CH. 15.03), changing "cocoa tree" in the former language to "Sabal palmetto palm." The sabal palmetto palm had been designated as State Tree in 1953. /Source: Florida Office of Cultural and Historical Programs, www.flheritage.com/