People Are Questioning What The Seal Of San Diego Portrays

City Councilman Joe LaCava of District 1 is calling for San Diego to have an in-depth conversation about potentially changing the city's seal. According to LaCava it no longer reflects "who we are as a city."

San Diego's city seal was commissioned by the city and crafted by Carleton Winslow over a century ago, reports NBC7.

Winslow also designed structures in Balboa Park for the Panama-California Exposition in 1915-16.

"We are so much of a different city then we were in 1914," LaCava told NBC7. "We were just trying to get our name on the map, especially with the opening of the Panama Canal.... But showing the Spanish ships that explored and then colonized this area, highlighting the Mission that spread religion to indigenous people, pillars that are intended to show that our foundation was based on Spain's exploration -- none of that is relevant today in who we are as a city."

According to NBC7, LaCava isn't the first to bring up this issue with the city's seal. The city's website points out that there "are two discrepancies in the seal's design. First, San Diego was founded by Franciscan priests, not Carmelites. Second, the ship was most likely supposed to represent the ship of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European explorer to enter San Diego Bay. However, Cabrillo's flagship San Salvador was a galleon, not a caravel."

LaCava says there's no formal process for updating the seal but he is hoping to create a consensus and start a process that could lead to a new seal in the upcoming months.

Photo: Getty Images