It was originally designed by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere in 1777 and was modified slightly in 1928.
The seal is the central motif in the flag of New Jersey and the Great Seal of the State of New Jersey.
The Coat of arms contains a horse's head. A helmet showing that New Jersey governs itself accordingly and three plows on a shield referring to the State's agriculture tradition, giving it the nickname "Garden State". The two Goddesses represent the State motto, "Liberty and Prosperity". Liberty is on the left. She is holding a staff with a liberty cap on it, and the word liberty underneath her. The goddess on the right is Ceres, goddess of agriculture. She is holding a cornucopia with prosperity written below her.
According to the minutes of the New Jersey General Assembly for March 11, 1896, the date in which the Assembly officially approved the flag as the state emblem, the buff color is due indirectly to George Washington, who had ordered on October 2, 1779, that the uniform coats of the New Jersey Continental Line be dark (Jersey) blue, with buff facings. Buff-colored facings had until then been reserved only for his own uniform and those of other Continental generals and their aides. Then, on February 28, 1780, the Continental War Officers in Philadelphia directed that the uniform coat facings of all regiments were to be the same as the background color of the regiments' state flag.
