There is a solution to the ongoing controversy over replacing the state’s historic seal, flag and motto that critics have deemed racist.
This is the seal that is composed of a Native American holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. He is dressed in native garb and has feathers on the back of his head.
Above him is an arm holding a sword that could be interpreted as threatening,
Draped around the image is the Latin motto that translates into, “By the sword we seek peace, but peace under liberty.”
A special revamped commission recently proposed several insipid design replacements that would eliminate the Native American and his bow and arrow, along with the sword-wielding arm.
The stirring motto would also be replaced with something like “We rejoice in the public good.”
The commission will hold a series of public hearings to gather input and then make recommendations to the governor.
Gov. Maura Healey will have the option of making recommendations for changes to the Legislature or to just leave well enough alone.
Given the governor’s wokeness, it is expected she will go along with whatever milk toast changes the commission recommends.
Although a native of New Hampshire, Healey is no live free or die warrior.
Besides, the matter has become a political issue and since both Republican candidates for governor are for keeping things the same, Healey could recommend changes.
As GOP candidate Brian Shortsleeve, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, put it, “We have a great flag. It’s a flag I love. It’s a flag that represents our heritage.”
Shortsleeve and fellow GOP candidate Mike Kennealy made their remarks in response to a Herald poll that showed that 82% of readers polled want no change.
While not an ex-Marine, Kennealy sounded like one. He said, “Our state flag represents freedom from tyranny and is a symbol of Massachusetts.”
The seal, flag and motto go back to 1786. The seal is printed on all state documents and the flag files at or over all state buildings.
The proposal to replace the “racist” seal stemmed from the riots following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, when rioters demanding change tore down Confederate statues and changed names, among other things.
Hence, the creation of the commission that called for the controversial elimination of the historic and established state seal, flag and motto.
One solution (mine) is, that if changes are to be made, they should be made to appeal to both sides of the debate — the anti-seal progressives and the pro-seal conservatives.
The Native American on the seal is supposedly based on one of two (or both) Native Americans who were among the first to greet the Pilgrims in Plymouth in 1620. They were Samoset of the Eastern Abenaki tribe, and Squanto, a Wampanoag.
That Native American on the seal could be replaced, for instance, by one of the Pilgrims — say William Bradford, the Pilgrim leader, or Miles Standish, the group’s military commander.
Instead of the bow and arrow, the Bradford or Standish replacement, dressed in worn-out Pilgrim garb, would be wearing a helmet and holding a matchlock musket.
The arm above the seal would be wielding a tomahawk instead of a sword.
And the Latin motto would read, “By the tomahawk we seek peace, it’s too bad you didn’t.”
Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com
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