State Sen. Crowe, R-Johnson City, says his bill to add the phrase, “In God We Trust,” to Tennessee’s official state seal does not detract from its tradition or infringe on the U.S. Constitution.
Crowe said he and state Rep. John Holsclaw, R-Elizabethton, are sponsoring SB0420/HB0771 to ask Gov. Bill Lee to direct Secretary of State Tre Hargett to redesign the state seal to incorporate what has been designated by federal law as the national motto with the state’s existing motto, “Commerce and Agriculture.”
He said doing so would create a “common identity meant to be ceremonial and very patriotic. I felt it should have been done long ago.”
The Johnson City lawmaker said after the Secretary of State has redesigned the state seal, the Tennessee General Assembly will be asked to pass a resolution to approve or disapprove the new emblem.
I’m not taking away any history or tradition associated with our seal,” Crowe told the Press last week. “I’m just adding to it.”
He said he would recommend a design that keeps the upper portion of “THE GREAT STATE OF TENNESSEE”on top as it now appears, but in smaller print to make room for “IN GOD WE TRUST” on the bottom of the circle. Crowe said he would also suggest the date of Tennessee’s statehood, “1796,” be inserted between “Commerce and Agriculture.”
Crowe said the state seal of Tennessee “evokes the importance of agriculture to the state and the contribution of the Tennessee River to the commerce.” While updates have been made to its appearance over the years, the basic design of the seal has remained much the same since it was first created. The last major change to the seal was adopted in 1987.
The state seal can trace its roots to Jonesborough, where a state historic marker near the town’s visitors center reads: “One quarter mile southwest on the main street of Jonesborough stood the silversmith shop of William and Matthew Atkinson, designers and engravers of the Great Seal of the State of Tennessee. Although authorized by the Tennessee Constitution of 1796, the seal was first used on April 24, 1902, by Archibald Roane, the second governor. Because of legislative failure to provide for a seal, the first governor, John Sevier, used personal seals during his first three terms.”
Crowe said last week that his recent meetings with the Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the state’s Solicitor General Andrée Sophia Blumstein seem to suggest that “we are on very solid ground” in pushing legislation to add “In God We Trust” to the state seal.
“The courts have upheld similar legislation against constitutional challenges claiming, in particular, a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,” Crowe said. “Most recently, District Judge Aleta A. Trauger upheld Tennessee’s 2017 “National Motto in the Classroom Act.”
Crowe also said that every U.S. Circuit Court decision that has addressed the question has held that the national motto does not violate the Establishment Clause. The 6th U.S. Circuit has even upheld Ohio’s somewhat similar state motto: “With God, All Things Are Possible.”
Crowe said there are a number of factors that the courts have relied on in rejecting Establishment Clause challenges to the phrase, “In God We Trust,” on state seals, official state documents and on public vehicles.
They include:
• Federal law provides that “‘In God We Trust’ is the national motto.”
• The reference to God in the national motto when added to an otherwise secular symbol such as a state seal does not make that symbol religious as opposed to secular.
• The motto has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Rather, the courts have said its “use is of a patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise.”
• The courts have said the national motto “symbolizes the historic role of religion in our society, formalizes our medium of exchange (as it is on our coins and bills), fosters patriotism and expresses confidence in the future.”
Robert Houk has served as a journalist and photographer at the Press since 1987. He is a recipient of the Associated Press Managing Editors Malcom Law Award for investigative reporting.
