Constituent: Change Iowa seal description of soldier 'with a plow in his rear'

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa legislator says the legal description of the state's seal should be rewritten to eliminate a reference to a citizen soldier "with a plow in his rear."

Rep. Ray Zirkelbach, a Democrat from Monticello, says the suggestion the wording of the legal description be changed came from a constituent.

State records indicates the description of the state seal was approved by Iowa's first General Assembly on Feb. 25, 1847.

Zirkelbach says the "in the rear" description of the state seal evokes different images today than it did 163 years ago. Explaining the reason for the change, House File 2028 says it would correct a "malapropism" in the legal description.

Zirkelbach proposes to change the phrase to "standing in front of a plow."

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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.