D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill Tuesday that would place her city’s official seal in the Library of Congress alongside seals of states.
Presently, the stained-glass windows in the historic building contain all seals of the 50 states and territories that existed when the building was constructed except D.C’s, despite the fact that it was readily available and could have been depicted.
“Pending D.C. statehood, we will continue to work to make D.C. equal in all respects with the states,” Norton said. “While the placement of the D.C. seal may seem trivial to some, it would be an important symbolic step toward equality with the states for the nearly 700,000 residents of the nation’s capital.”
The District has two statues in the U.S. Capitol — 19th century civil and human rights leader Frederick Douglass and city-designed Pierre L’Enfant — a column at the World War II Memorial, a provision requiring the D.C. flag to be displayed by the armed services whenever other flags are presented and a coin with the late resident bandleader Duke Ellington on it.
The bill to put the city’s seal in the Library of Congress is the latest move by Norton in the fight for D.C. statehood.
Norton also has the National Park Service fly the District flag along with state flags at Union Station.