The seal consists of five symbols:

1. Helmet and Horse Head
   Represent New Jersey's independence as a State and that New Jersey was one of the first States. In 1787, New Jersey was the third state to enter the Union.
   
2. Liberty
   On the left, signifying freedom, Liberty supports a staff topped with a liberty cap. In ancient Rome, freed slaves wore the liberty cap during the ceremony that released them from servitude. Liberty caps were very popular during the American Revolution.
   
3. Ceres
   To the right is Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain, holding a horn-of-plenty of produce harvested from New Jersey's farms.
   
4. Shield
   The three plows celebrate New Jersey's agricultural heritage.
   
5. Scroll
   Bearing the words "Liberty and Prosperity," the state's motto, and 1776, the year New Jersey achieved statehood.