Today in Smithsonian History: June 3, 1966

Mock-up of the Smithsonian Institution’s 1966 logo, via Smithsonian Institution Archives.

June 3, 1966 A new Smithsonian seal is approved, in the form of the sun with alternating straight and wavy rays representing heat and light—“The Sun in His Splendor.” It bears the inscription: “Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.” The seal was designed at the request of Secretary S. Dillon Ripley to coincide with the bicentennial of James Smithson’s birth.

Read more about the designer of the seal, Ivan Chermayoff.

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