Mysterious runes from days of yore

For a city as (selectively) obsessed with historic preservation as New Orleans pretends to be, it sure is odd that nobody can say exactly what its official seal is supposed to symbolize.

A version of the city seal dates back to 1805, according to a 1968 article from The Times-Picayune. When New Orleans was divided into three municipalities in 1836, each one created their own seal. When the city was reunified in 1852, they adopted the seal that's in use today -- though it's not known how close that version is to the one from 1805.

Early in the week, Cantrell's office explained the change this way:

"The mayor selected the revised image in keeping with her commitment to being intentional, and being inclusive," Cantrell spokesman Beau Tidwell said in a statement. "The new version of the seal is intended to better reflect the City it is meant to represent."

But in making that statement, Tidwell left unanswered a key question being asked on social media: Does changing the skin color of the two figures also change who they were intended to represent?

The seal's meaning and origin has always been somewhat mysterious. While historians have tracked down primary documents showing payment for the seal and who created it, there was not a document explaining its components.

They can't say for sure what the thing represents in the first place. But they do know they've improved on it. Or at least they know they intended to do that.

Early in the week, Cantrell's office explained the change this way:

"The mayor selected the revised image in keeping with her commitment to being intentional, and being inclusive," Cantrell spokesman Beau Tidwell said in a statement. "The new version of the seal is intended to better reflect the City it is meant to represent."

We get the part about being inclusive.  And since nobody really knows what's going on in the image in the first place, there's really no identifiable harm in making the change. So it's fine. This is probably the most attention anyone has paid to the city seal in decades anyway. 

But deciphering the seal isn't the only riddle we're interested in here.  There's also this. 

Pressed to explain what the mayor meant by being "intentional," and how the change would be more inclusive, Tidwell wrote, "When we say the change was 'intentional,' what we mean is that it was done deliberately.

Well okay, then.  Maybe some mysteries aren't meant to be solved.