" There is the lesson of a Cherokee man teaching his grandchildren about life.  He says to them,  'A fight is going on inside me.  It's between two wolves.  One wolf is evil.  He is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, anxiety, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, competition, and superiority.  The other wolf is good.  He is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, faith, and laughter.  Then he tells his grandchildren that the same fight is going on inside of them, and also inside of every person.  The children think about this for a moment, and then one of them asks his grandfather, 'Which wolf will win?'  The old man then replies, 'The one that you feed.' "

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=8673234

The Great Seal of West Virginia explained

By Christian Giggenbach
Register-Herald Reporter

June 19, 2008 11:56 pm

— The Great Seal of the State of West Virginia, which exhibits the motto Montani Semper Liberi below a farmer and a coal miner, is easily one of the most recognized symbols of the Mountain State.

But did you know the state seal also has a reverse side?

About 145 years ago, on Sept. 23, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War and just three months after separating from Virginia, the state's first Legislature passed a joint resolution that adopted the state seal into the Constitution of West Virginia.
A Doddridge County artist, Joseph H. Diss Debar, was hand-picked by the Legislature to create the seal and explain all of its meanings.

The disc of the Great Seal is to be two and one-half inches in diameter; the obverse (front) to bear the legend The State of West Virginia, the constitutional designations of our Republic, which is the motto, Montani Semper Liberi  Mountaineers are always freeï is to be inserted in the circumference, the 1863 Legislative report said.

In the center a rock of ivy, emblematic of stability and continuance, and on the face of the rock the inscription, June 20, 1863, the date of our foundation, as if graven with a pen of iron in the rock forever.

According to state documents, the farmer is clothed in traditional hunting garb and his right arm is resting on a plow handle and his left arm is holding a woodman's ax. At the right of the farmer is a sheaf of wheat and a cornstalk.

 ... indicating that while our territory is partly cultivated, it is still in the process of being cleared of the original forest, the 1863 report said.

Opposite the farmer, a miner carries a pick ax and has barrels and lumps of minerals at his feet. An anvil and sledgehammer are seen, indicating the principal pursuits and resources of the state.

Below the two figures are two crossed rifles as if just laid down by the latter and ready to be resumed at a moment's notice.

 ... crossed and surmounted at the place of contact by the Phrygian cap, or cap of liberty, indicating that our freedom and liberty were won and will be maintained by the force of arms, the report said.

The keeper of the seal

One of the original and ongoing duties of the secretary of state is to be the keeper of the Great Seal and that it is affixed to all the pertinent documents that come through this office, such as any proclamations done by the governor, Secretary of State Betty Ireland said. By law, the state seal is what certifies the document for historical papers and it requires my signature.

Ireland said one of the original presses for the great seal remains in her office and she allows school children to stamp it onto a piece of paper when visiting.
In the old days, a press was used, but now we just use a gold sticker, Ireland said.

Liberates E. Fidelitate  the governor's seal

The reverse of the Great Seal is surrounded by a wreath made of laurel and oak leaves -- symbolizing valor and strength -- and is the Governor's Official Seal.
A log farmhouse, wooded mountain and a cultivated portion of a slope are also represented, along with a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad train trestle from that time period located in Preston County. The trestle still stands.

... one of the great engineering triumphs of the age, with a train of cars about to pass over it, the 1863 report said.

The state salt and petroleum industries at the time are represented by a derrick and a shed located near a factory that has smoke billowing out its chimney.
A meadow with cattle and sheep can also be seen along with the sun emerging from clouds. Above the sun rays, the motto Libertas E. Fidelitate -- liberty (freedom) from or because of loyalty -- is clearly printed,  ... indicating that the former obstacles to our prosperity are now disappearing ... and that our liberty and independence are the result of faithfulness to the Declaration and the National Constitution,the report said.

We can never lose sight of our roots from 1863, Ireland said. All of those ideas that our founders had are preserved on the state seal and they are the same we continue to live by today.

-- E-mail: cgiggenbach@register-herald.com

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.

Photos

The most recognizable part of the Great Seal of the State of West Virginia, its front, is shown here.

The reverse of the seal lacks the same familiarity. Both were created at the same time and were adopted on Sept. 23, 1863. The reverse seal also serves as the Governor's Official Seal.

State didn't have official flag until 1905

By Christian Giggenbach     Register-Herald Reporter

June 19, 2008 11:55 pm

— The state flag of West Virginia has a dark blue border on a white field. The state's coat of arms is portrayed as the state seal in the center. Any West Virginia History student will tell you that.

But the state flag didn't start out that way. In fact, our first official flags were so poorly done, the Legislature threw them out, and one even had an eagle on it.
According to Joe Geiger, acting director of the West Virginia Archives and History, our first state flags had their origins in the Civil War and were used as banners for soldiers. State flags were also presented to each of its Civil War regiments.

These flags were six feet of silk square, dark blue in color and with a golden fringe, one undated historical document provided by Geiger said. �On one side was the seal of the state painted on an oval, the name of the regiment, with its battles and their dates, and on the other side was the national emblem, a spread eagle, painted in colors, with a tri-color shield protecting its breast, a bundle of arrows in its right talon, an olive branch in its left, and a scroll floating from its beak with the national motto, E Pluribus Unun.

According to the document, after the war, a more definite and smaller design was needed, but the state didn�t begin to really work on the problem until after the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis, Miss., in 1904.

The state did not have an official flag until the early part of the 20th century. State commissioners were embarrassed due to the lack of a flag to display at the West Virginia building, Geiger said.

On February, 24, 1905, the Legislature passed a joint resolution adopting a state flag.

Upon the center of which shall be a sprig of the rhododendron maximum or big laurel, having flowers and leaves, and on the reverse side shall be the state coat of arms and the motto; the field of white shall be bordered by a band or strip of blue, and this in turn shall be bordered by a strip or fringe of carmine red ..., the resolution said.

However, this flag soon proved to be very impracticable because the lettering on one side reads toward the staff and that the colors on both sides of a white field cannot be used without showing through when opposite each other, thus destroying the distinctive features of the banner, the resolution said.

So the Legislature decided once and for all that the state's flag must be redone and be distinctively its own, apart from all other flags in the United States, in preparation of the upcoming Jamestown Exposition.

In 1907, what we now recognize as our state's flag began taking shape, however, there were still two different symbols on each side the coat of arms and the state's flower. No official changes were made until 1929 because the design could not be produced cheaply and an inexpensive flag was essential for schools.

The Legislature decided the flag needed to be stamped from dies that would show the seal and flower on the same side the historical document said.
In the end, the Legislature deemed the flag shall be pure white, upon the center shall be ... the coat of arms, along with the motto, Montani Semper Liberi.

The symbols on the state seal that forms the foundation of our state flag represent important West Virginia values, such as stability and the pursuit and defense of liberty, Gov. Joe Manchin told The Register-Herald Thursday. In addition, as in 1863, the state's mining industry and agriculture industry are still incredibly important to the state's economy and it's people. So a seal that was created in 1863 still holds many of the same meanings 145 years later. That's its display on our state flag makes the presentation of the flag so moving.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.

Photos

The West Virginia state flag, along with the United States flag, is seen through the windows at the main entrance of The Greenbrier in this 2007 photo. Today is the 145th birthday of the state. The Register-Herald

West Virginia State Flag

Many of my friends have gathered in West Virginia for an "all classes" reunion, including graduates from 1928 to 1998. The earliest graduate pre registered to attend graduated in 1934. While they are making merry back home, my supply of email jokes has fallen off considerably. Rude of them, don't you think? Of course I'm envious! You knew that. LOL. I don't know what it is with folks from my home town but we seem to have an innate need to keep in touch. We do reunions with the same drive that makes a salmon swim upstream, sometimes even for the same reasons and results.

One of the frequent themes while we were growing up was an admonition to remember our roots. The worst thing our parents could say about someone was that they "Got above their raising". Coming home to flaunt our accomplishments, money, or a style acquired during our forays out into the world was a sure way to find scorn on the home front. Humility was encouraged. A blatant lack of humility was sure way to hear "Honey, I remember you when you lived just like the rest of us."

We learned our lessons well. I suspect we have reunions because we do remember where we came from and how it all started. We get together and talk of youthful activities and tell stories about how poor we were. We remember the rules of our time. We laugh at our ignorance. We have common ground and we keep it fertile. We remember tomato sandwiches, barefoot summers, horrible home perms, a ritual before school started every year and some of us remember homemade dresses or shirts. We laugh at the memory of pegged pants, DA haircuts and Elvis when Heartbreak Hotel stopped us all in our tracks. We still dance to the Platters, given an opportunity. Smoke Gets in your Eyes can trigger many a lustful memory from the days when we had the urge without courage enough to do anything about it. We forget for awhile that no matter how successful we have been each of us missed out making reality out of some of those dreams. We weigh the cost of dreams found and dreams lost.

All told, we children of railroad men and miners, merchants, teachers and the occasional doctor have done well for ourselves. We gather to sing praises to West Virginia and to assure her that we ain't got above our raisin'. She lives in our speech patterns. She lives in the essence of all that we became. She is home. She is our heart. She is in our anger and she is our pride. When we say "ain't" it is spoken with a smile and a nod to home. We know better but it's a love thing. It takes us back for a moment to country roads and dusty days when we believed that Mountaineers are always free.

My sisters, my brothers, my friends, my mountains, my West Virginia, my hillbillies, my rednecks and my flaming liberals……the essence of me, a union which requires no reunion except as a refresher course in values.

       See how many of these facts that you know.

FACTS ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA: