All our metallic seals/podium plaques are made from solid mahogany that has been kiln dried and cured to avoid warping and twisting. They are hand carved and painted measuring 14" in diameter with a 3/16th inch relief on designs and lettering. Each product has a keyhole slot recessed into the rear to allow flush fitting against any surface.
Special stands are available to convert the seal into a free standing unit for display in a case or on a table top. For more information about these or any other item on this page, please call Toll Free 1-877-543-6094.
Order and contact details click here.
We can manufacture any size of metallic seal up to 60" in diameter, please call our Toll Free Number 1-877-543-6094 for more information.
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Department of Defense Seal / Podium Plaque Metallic Gold & Silver
Proposals to coordinate the activities of the military services were initially considered by Congress in 1944. Specific plans were put forth in 1945 by the Army, the Navy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a special message to Congress on December 19, 1945, President Harry Truman proposed creation of a unified Department of National Defense. A proposal reached Congress in April 1946, but was held up by the Naval Affairs Committee held hearings in July 1946 due to objections to the concentration of power in a single department. Truman eventually sent new legislation to Congress in February 1947, where it was debated and amended for several months.
On July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up the National Military Establishment to begin operations on September 18, 1947, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The Establishment had the unfortunate abbreviation 'NME' (the obvious pronunciation being "enemy"), and was renamed the "Department of Defense" (abbreviated as DOD or DoD) on August 10, 1949; in addition, the Secretary of Defense was given greater authority over the three military departments (Army, Navy, and Air Force). Prior to the creation of the National Military Establishment / Department of Defense, the Armed Forces of the United States were separated into different cabinet-level departments without much central authority.
The Department of Defense is based in The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia outside Washington, DC, across the Potomac River. It was created by combining the War Department (founded in 1789) with the Navy Department (founded in 1798; formerly the Board of Admiralty, founded in 1780), and the newly created Department of the Air Force. The department was formed in order to reduce interservice rivalry which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War II.
It includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, as well as non-combat agencies such as the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
In wartime, the Department of Defense also has authority over the Coast Guard; in peacetime, that agency is under the control of the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to the creation of DHS, the Coast Guard was under the control of the Department of Transportation. The Coast Guard has not been formally militarized since World War II, although it has participated in various military and law enforcement operations over the years.
The DoD's annual budget is roughly $425 billion (~$1,600 per capita), which does not include tens of billions more in supplemental expenditures allotted by Congress throughout the year.
The command structure of the Department of Defense is defined by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. Under the act, the chain of command runs from the President of the United States, through the Secretary of Defense, to the regional commanders within one of several commands who command all military forces within their area of operation. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the several Chiefs of Staff are responsible for readiness of the U.S. military and serve as the President's military advisers, but are not in the chain of command. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States.
On February 22, 2002, the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General has reported that DOD has not and will not account for $1.1 trillion of "undocumentable adjustments." In addition, there have been several high-profile Government Accountability Office investigations of the Department of Defense.
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US Air Force Seal / Podium Plaque Metallic Gold & Silver
Prior to enactment of the National Security Act of 26 July 1947 which authorized the United States Air Force, Mr. Arthur E. DuBois of the Army Quartermaster General's office designed flags and seals for the three services. In September 1947 the proposed Air Force seal was exhibited in the office of the new Secretary of the Air Force, and later a panel of about thirty top-ranking Air Force officers reviewed it. The design had a green background and featured the Wright Brothers' airplane as the central point. The panel recommended that the background be blue and that a symbolic design replace the airplane. Mr. DuBois sketched Jupiter's thunderbolt, and it was adopted. The final drawing was approved by President Truman on 1 November 1947.
The predominant colors, gold and ultramarine blue, are the Air Force's colors as carried down from the Air Corps. The thirteen stars signify the original states, and the bald eagle is the symbol of the United States and of air striking power. The shield is divided by a nebula line formation, representing clouds, and the heraldic thunderbolt portrays striking power in the medium of air.
The seal is protected by law from use by any party for purposes not specifically authorized by the Air Force. Unauthorized uses include on souvenir or novelty items; on toys, clothes, or printed items; on commercial or private printed matter; and on any article that may discredit the seal or reflect unfavorably on the Department of the Air Force.
History. Prior to enactment of the National Security Act of 26 July 1947, Mr. Arthur E. DuBois of the Military Planning Division, Office the Quartermaster General, Department of the Army, prepared a study of flags and seals for consideration by the three services.
These drawings were first reviewed by Army officials in the office of the Director of Personnel and Administration, then by Naval personnel in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air, which also arranged to have the drawings reviewed by the Secretary of Defense.
In September 1947, proposed drawings of the Air Force Seal were first exhibited in the office of the Secretary of the Air Force. Later, a conference of approximately 30 top-ranking Air Force general officers considered the preferred one. The participants evaluated an Air Force seal with a green-colored background; it featured prominently at the honor point of the shield a Wright Brothers' airplane. This Seal has been prepared by the Heraldic Section of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Department of the Army, in coordination with Mr. Robert E. Ewin, Chief of the Air Force Uniform and Insignia Section. After review, conference participants decided that the background of the Department of the Air Force Seal should be blue rather than green, and that a symbolic design should be substituted in place of the Wright Brothers' airplane. During these discussions, Mr. Dubois picked up the design and on its reverse side made a pencil sketch of Jupiter's thunderbolt as a suggested symbol. When the Air Force representatives saw the pencil sketch and understood its significance, they agreed to adopt that design as the basic symbol for the Air Force Seal instead of the Wright Brothers' airplane. The words "Department of the Air Force" that appear around the upper rim of the Seal were drawn from the words of the National Security Act.
The final drawing of the Department of the Air Force Seal was completed in the Office of the Quartermaster General, Department of the Army, and approved by Harry S. Truman, President of the United States, on 1 November 1947.
The entire design used on the shield of the Air Force Seal is taken from an heraldic representation of the mythological thunderbolt, also termed Jupiter's thunderbolt,. Jupiter was the Roman mythological God of the Heavens. At the honor point of the shield is a lightning bolt or elongated projectile-like mass, conceived of as the missile cast to earth in the lightning flash. The word thunderbolt--a single discharge of lightning with the accompanying thunder--derived from the idea that lightning was a bolt thrown to earth by a god.The pair of wings and smaller lightning flashes surrounding the bolt complete the design.
The eagle's head is turned to the right and symbolizes facing the enemy--looking toward the future and not dwelling on past deeds.
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US Navy Seal / Podium Plaque Metallic Gold & Silver
Background, Description, and Symbolism of the U.S. Navy Seal
The first American Navy seal was adopted by the Continental Congress on 4 May 1780 for the Board of Admiralty, progenitor of the Navy Department. This seal was affixed to naval officer commissions, and was as follows:
"the arms, thirteen bars mutually supporting each other, alternate red and white in a blue field, and surmounting an anchor proper. The crest a ship under sail. The motto Sustentans et Sustentatum. The legend U.S.A. Sigil. Naval."
The ship on the seal wore a national ensign at the stern and a commission pennant atop the mainmast. The Continental Navy of the American Revolution went out of existence in 1785 with the sale of the last ship, USS Alliance. When a separate Navy Department was founded in 1798, the Board of Admiralty seal was no longer used. Naval officer commissions from 1798 to 1849 carried a distinctly different seal which contained the basic elements of the current official seal -- the sea, ship under sail, eagle and anchor.
The seal again underwent change about 1850 as the design came even closer to that which is in use today. Neither the 1798 nor the 1850 seal seems to have had any specific authorization. The century following the appearance of the 1850 design witnessed variations in the position and shape of the eagle, ship and anchor. Sometimes land was shown on the seal, and at other times only water. Likewise, the several Navy Bureaus and Offices employed a variety of seal designs. For years prior to 1957, when the present seal was adopted, military and civilian officials within the Navy expressed the need for an official seal of uniform design.
Naval records reveal an interest in and awareness of the many variations which had crept into the seal details. Concerted effort to arrive at a redesigned standard seal for use by the Navy, afloat and ashore, awaited the post-World War II period. Recommendations from Secretaries of the Navy, heraldic experts, and historians resulted in this final seal design approved by President Eisenhower, and promulgated by Executive Order 10736 on 23 October 1957:
On a circular background of fair sky and moderate sea with land in sinister base, a three-masted square-rigged ship underway before a fair breeze with after topsail furled, commission pennant atop the foremast, National Ensign atop the main, and the commodore's flag atop the mizzen. In front of the ship a Luce-type anchor inclined slightly bendwise with the crown resting on the land and, in front of the shank and in back of the dexter fluke, an American bald eagle rising to sinister regarding to dexter, one foot on the ground, the other resting on the anchor near the shank; all in proper colors. The whole within a blue annulet bearing the inscrip tion "Department of the Navy" at top, and "United States of America" at the bottom, separated on each side by a mullet and within a rim in the form of a rope; inscription, rope, mullet, and edges of annulet all gold.
Land in the design would symbolize the Navy's supporting shore facilities as well as the fleet's amphibious strike capabilities. Since the wording "Navy Department," used on earlier seals, had generally come to signify only the headquarters activities in Washington, the inscription was changed to "Department of the Navy" in order to embrace the Navy's total world-wide operations afloat, in the air, and ashore.
To order by phone or for more information about this product call 1-877-543-6094
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To order by phone or for more information about this product call 1-877-543-6094
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