Patch of History: Royal Oak Introduced First 'Official Seal' in 1965

Long before Royal Oak got a brand new brand — new logo and marketing tagline: Life Now Playing — City Commissioners approved an official seal with a Latin motto in 1965.

The blue, gold, red and black seal, which can be seen hanging on the wall at City Hall in room 315, contains the Latin motto "Vivimus Servire" or "We live to serve."

Inside the circular seal is a red and gold crest. The four quadrants of the crest  contain an oak tree (symbol of the county), an elk (symbol of the state), three acorns (representing the three branches of government) and "a bit of heraldry taken from the coat of arms of Charles II of England marking the origin of the term 'Royal Oak,'" reported the Daily Tribune in 1965.

Commissioners who approved the official seal 48 years ago asked administrators to design it, noting the city did not have a seal for the first 43 years of its history. The seal was designed by Michael Lesko, who was the personnel director at the time.

The seal was designed to be used on city stationary and other official documents, reported the Daily Tribune.

Only one dissent came from Commissioner Wallace Gabler, Jr., who worried a four-color design might be too costly to reproduce on stationery, according to the Daily Tribune report.

Last  summer, in a special meeting in July, the Royal Oak City Commission voted 6-1 (Commissioner Jim Rasor was the lone nay vote) to move forward with new branding for the city.

As part of its 2012-2013 goals and objectives, the Royal Oak City Commission hired Ideation Signs and Communications, to help roll-out a unified city marketing identity and strategy. This year’s budget included an allocation of $20,000 to complete the design task.