The Seals of New York City

 New York City has a "current" and older city seal. I saw these on a building, took some pictures, and decided to share.

Above is the current New York City Seal. There is a shield resting on a laurel wreath. Below the laurel wreath is a date (1686) which when the city received its British Charter. On the shield are the Dutch windmill sails. In between are Beavers and Flour Barrels. The flour barrels date from 1674 when the city was the only city allowed to mill and export flour.

To the left and right of the shields are two figures. The left is a colonial sailor holding a navigation aid. To the right is a native American, but the wrong one. New York's native Americans did not wear war headdresses.

Above the shield is a US eagle atop a globe. As of 1977 the official city seal has a date of 1625, which was when the city of New Amsterdam was founded.

I assume every knows that the Netherlands founded the city and state, but if you don't - some history. The city was originally known as New Amsterdam and the state was called New Netherland. Because it was founded by the Dutch. After a war in 1676 the city passed to England and the colony of Surinam passed to the Netherlands. England also gave up claims in Indonesia (the Spice Islands at the time).

On the same building is another seal. I cannot find any details about this one, but a couple of images stand out. First the Beaver is indicative of the export of the city. And the Crown is indicative of the city's status as part of England. In fact the city seal at the top was first created with that crown, and then changed to the US Eagle after the civil war.