Newton To Rethink City Seal, Flag

NEWTON, MA — People have been stepping over it as they walk into Newton City Hall for the past 88 years, but the world has changed drastically since the city's seal was first created in 1865. Now, the mayor is asking for a group to review the symbol to determine if it is still relevant in the 21st century.

The move comes as municipalities across the country are taking closer looks at the symbols that represent them, from the state flag to team mascots, amid greater awareness of just how those symbols can affect marginalized populations.

Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said the idea has been long in coming. She started meeting with the city's director of Historic Newton, the city clerk and the director of community engagement and inclusion to learn more about the history and iconography of the seal, which also appears on the city flag.

The symbol depicts a white man fully dressed with his hand out, as if making a point, facing a group of Native Americans all with feathers in their hair. Two Native Americans are sitting or crouching and one is leaning against a tree, all appear to be partially clothed. The words "liberty and union, Nonantum" are written in an inner circle around the symbol and an outer circle has the words "Newton Founded 1630 Incorporated A Town 1688 A City 1873."

According to Historic Newton this is depicting something that actually happened in Newton.

"The seal depicts the scene of Rev. John Eliot proselytizing to Native Americans in 1646. Eliot was an English minster who felt called to convert indigenous people to Christianity, which aligned with the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s charter mandate," according to Historic Newton.

The preaching scene is said to have happened at Eliot Memorial park near today’s Newton Commonwealth Golf Course.

"It’s time to take a deeper look at our seal," said Fuller.

She is proposing a working group answer the key questions —from context of the symbol to the history it conveys and whether it is still meaningful and relevant or whether it's time for something new — and to make recommendations about whether to change the seal, and if so, what that might look like.

Fuller said the director of Historic Newton will lead the group, which will finish with recommendations by the end of the year. After that, recommendations will go to the mayor and to city council.

City officials are asking anyone interested in joining the group send an email explaining why you'd be a good fit, and include a resume, to Lisa Dady at ldady@newtonma.gov. Wed., Aug. 19.

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