Illinois Secretary of State Sharon Tyndale spearheaded the drive to create the third and present state seal. In 1867, he asked State Senator Allen C. Fuller to introduce legislation requiring a new seal. Tyndale originally planned to reverse the words of the state motto "State Sovereignty, National Union" in light of the American Civil War, but a bill was passed on March 7, 1867, keeping the original wording. Tyndale, however, was entrusted with designing it.2
The seal features an eagle pitched on a rock carrying a shield in its talons and a banner with the state motto in its beak. It closely resembles the flag of Mexico, which depicts an eagle with a snake in its mouth. Thirteen stars and thirteen stripes on the shield represent the original thirteen states of the Union. Tyndale's desire to change the wording of the motto are still reflected with the original wording, with "State Sovereignty" placed below "National Union" with "Sovereignty" upside down, decreasing its readability. The date August 26, 1818, when Illinois's first constitution was adopted in Kaskaskia, appears along the bottom arc of the circle, and 1818, the year of statehood, displays on the seal below 1868, the year the current seal was adopted. This basic design has survived through several modifications since it was first conceived. The Illinois Secretary of State is still the keeper of the Great Seal of the State of Illinois.3
