Seal of the University

In 1841, Andrew Broaddus designed the seal that, in the language of the time, represents an eye looking down from a cloud upon an open volume illuminated by a lamp above it. The eye may represent human sagacity or divine omniscience according to the fancy of the observer. The name of the institution, with the date of its incorporation, is also included. The Latin phrase verbum vitae et lumen scientiae means, "The word of life and the light of knowledge."