Sarasota commissioners approve new city seal

Much has happened here since the city of Sarasota was founded by John Hamilton Gillespie 120 yeas ago. One thing that hasn’t transpired — until Monday — is a redesign of the original city seal. In the 12 decades since, the rudimentary, hand-drawn seal depicting water, palm trees and an unidentifiable large aquatic creature has projected the image of the city on official documents and in various mediums.

All that changed on Monday when the Sarasota City Commission unanimously approved a new city seal. Elements in common between the new and original seals are the circular shape, the slogan “May Sarasota Prosper” and the number “1902,” and images of water and palm trees. New in the seal are birds in flight over something Gillespie could never have imaged in his day, the John Ringling Bridge, set against the backdrop of the sunset.

The seal project began in May 2021 when the City Commission launched official discussions about updating the seal. The city contracted Sarasota branding and design firm DreamLarge to lead the effort, which in April launched a campaign to solicit seal design submissions from the public.

That effort yielded 200 designs from citizens and non-residents alike, which DreamLarge narrowed to six for consideration by the City Commission in August, including its own hybrid version culled from common elements among the other finalists. That version was given the go-ahead for further refinement, and DreamLarge founder Anand Pallegar appeared once more before the commission for further guidance prior to Monday.

“It's truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put our fingerprints on shaping a transformative project that's as significant as our city seal,” Pallegar said. “It's been an incredible honor and privilege to have earned the trust of both the city and the community in guiding this project to a successful outcome.”

The new seal most closely resembles a submission by Rachel Manzano, who also addressed commissioners on Monday. The design originally submitted under the name of Rachel Ewing, she is a six-year immigrant from Northern Ireland who told commissioners she earned her U.S. citizenship in August.

“I thought this would be a great opportunity to take an artistic approach that would really set ourselves apart from the other city seals that I have seen,” she said. “Thanks to everyone's efforts here, the seal has ended up vibrant and clean, yet still classic and sophisticated, a design that will appeal to both the people that were born and raised here and to the people like me who chose Sarasota to be their home.”

In addition to the seal submissions, DreamLarge led a campaign that collected more than 2,000 survey responses to identify key design elements in a seal for the next 120 years.

“This was at its core a community-led project, and we're so grateful to the community of people that came along for the ride — every person that took a survey, submitted a design, read an article or shared a comment,” Pallegar said. “We trust that together, as a community, we captured the aspiration of our incredible city in the new seal for the next century and beyond.”

Up next: “The naked dude”

DreamLarge isn’t stopping with the city seal. The company has also been working on an updated city logo, currently dominated by a silhouette of the statue of David, a replica of which adorns the courtyard of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. That same logo is emblazoned on the wall behind the dais of the City Commission meeting chamber, described by Vice Mayor Kyle Battie Monday as “a naked dude looking over your shoulder.”

No time frame has been set for further action on the logo.