Harvard University Seal

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Harvard_old_seal.jpg by Opus88888 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Yale University Seal

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Yale_University_Shield_1.svg by Yale University [Public domain]

           The ivy league has existed for many years and many of them outdate Northwestern’s beginning in 1851.  Shown above are two of the most prestigious ivy league universities: Harvard and Yale. They all had a coat of arms or a seal which signified its intellectual prowess and prestige (more information about these seals can be found in the "Variations" section on the left). It was a must-have in the time of the creation of a university that wanted recognition. This tradition was adopted by many universities and was an opportunity for the university to showcase its own foundational characteristics and identity. Northwestern, ignited by the same spirit that ignites the city of Chicago, needed to have a seal that did just that in order to assert its own dominance in the Midwest. It was founded on the idea that it would be an institution of higher education to serve the Northwest territory (the region between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers). The seal’s main purpose was to respect the tradition established by other higher education institutions while also reflecting its Christian foundation and desire to inspire its students to search for knowledge.