Connecticut fixes the wording on an architect seal and leaves nearly everything else open. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-293 settles the legend, and it states no diameter, no outline, no device and no electronic version. Working drawings and specifications that chapter 390 reserves to a licensed architect are the documents that carry it. This page sets out the layout, the gaps and what to confirm before you order.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-293, which fixes the legend only, and production artwork for the Connecticut architect seal. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Documents that carry the seal | Working drawings and specifications prepared for buildings or structures that chapter 390 reserves to a licensed architect. | Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 20-293, 20-298 |
| State line | The words STATE OF CONNECTICUT run around the upper arc, with a place name set on a second line beneath. | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-293; production artwork, Connecticut architect seal |
| Professional legend | The words LICENSED ARCHITECT run around the lower arc. | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-293; production artwork, Connecticut architect seal |
| License number | Set beneath the legend in the form No. 123456. | Production artwork, Connecticut architect seal |
| Center emblem | The Connecticut coat of arms, a shield of three grapevines above the ribbon reading Qui Transtulit Sustinet. | Production artwork, Connecticut architect seal |
| Border and ornament | A serrated outer border made of fine radial ticks, one five-pointed star at each side sitting on the horizontal centerline, and a dotted inner ring drawn around the center block. | Production artwork, Connecticut architect seal |
| Device | No device is named. Chapter 390 never uses the words embossed, rubber stamp, facsimile or electronic. | Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 390 (no device named) |
| Electronic seal | No electronic or digital seal provision, no named technology, no certificate authority and no verification process. | Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 390 (no electronic seal provision) |
| Signature and date | Silent. Sealing and authorship are treated together, and no mechanics are stated. | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-293 (silent as to signature and date) |
| Size and shape | No diameter, outline or proportion is prescribed. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
Connecticut is one row in our architect seal requirements by state table, which sets each jurisdiction's rule side by side. The seal assumes you already hold the Connecticut license; how to become a licensed architect covers the degree, AXP and ARE routes.
What has to appear on a Connecticut architect seal?
Four items carry the compliance weight: the state line, the legend LICENSED ARCHITECT, your license number and the Connecticut coat of arms. Section 20-293 settles the legend. The rest of the face follows the artwork Connecticut seals are cut from.
Taken together, that is eight elements on one die:
- STATE OF CONNECTICUT, set around the upper arc
- A place name on the second line, directly below
- A serrated outer border made of fine radial ticks
- One five-pointed star at each side, sitting on the horizontal centerline
- The Connecticut coat of arms at the center: a shield carrying three grapevines, above the ribbon that reads Qui Transtulit Sustinet
- LICENSED ARCHITECT, set around the lower arc
- Your license number below that legend, written as No. 123456
- A dotted inner ring drawn around the center block
Only the legend is statutory. The emblem, the ticks, the stars and the ring are how a Connecticut seal is drawn rather than requirements you can point a plan reviewer to. Architects who want the same ground covered at more length can read a fuller account of Connecticut professional architect stamps.
How is the face laid out?
The wording sits in two arcs and the graphics sit in the middle. Text curves along the top and bottom, the coat of arms occupies the center block, and the dotted ring separates that block from the arc text.
The two stars act as the visual break between the upper and lower arc text, which is why they sit on the horizontal centerline rather than anywhere else. The serrated border is the outermost element and it is what makes a Connecticut impression recognizable at a glance on a drawing sheet. Anyone weighing layout options will find a practical look at using Connecticut architect stamps on design work useful before committing to a die.
What size does Connecticut require?
None. Section 20-293 prescribes no diameter, no outline and no proportion, so there is no measurement you can be out of compliance with. The dimensions a manufacturer cuts to are a production convention, not a published rule.
That has a practical upside and one practical trap. The upside is that you can size the die to the title block you actually work in. The trap is that shrinking a Connecticut face too far pushes the grapevine shield and the ticked border into a blur, and those are the elements that lose legibility first.
Which device may the impression come from?
Not addressed. Section 20-293 speaks of documents being stamped with the architect's seal and names no device at all. The words embossed, rubber stamp, facsimile and electronic do not appear anywhere in chapter 390.
Read plainly, that means the chapter neither authorizes nor forbids a particular format. No provision treats an ink impression as compliant and a raised impression as not, and no provision says the reverse. The statute is concerned with what the seal says, not with how it is pressed onto paper.
Does the statute address the signature and date?
No. Sealing and authorship are treated together in section 20-293, and the statute is silent on the mechanics. It sets no placement rule, no requirement that a signature sit beside the impression and no instruction about dating the sheet.
Silence here is not permission to skip anything a client, a building official or a contract asks for. It means the cited sources supply no answer, so the practice you follow comes from the submission requirements in front of you rather than from chapter 390.
Which documents have to carry it?
Working drawings and specifications for buildings or structures that chapter 390 itself reserves to a licensed architect. Sections 20-293 and 20-298 are read together for that scope.
Specifications are named alongside drawings, which is worth noting because written volumes are the part of a submission most often left unsealed. If chapter 390 reserves the building to a licensed architect, both halves of the instrument fall inside the duty. What sealing establishes for a Connecticut architect is the background question behind that scope.
Does Connecticut recognize an electronic seal?
Chapter 390 contains no electronic or digital seal provision. It names no technology, no certificate authority and no verification process, and it sets out no stripping language for an uncertified electronic file.
So there is nothing in these sources to comply with and nothing to rely on. An architect issuing files electronically is working outside what chapter 390 addresses, and the governing instruction will come from the receiving authority rather than from the statute.
What does annual renewal mean for your seal?
Connecticut puts every licensed architect on annual renewal under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-292(a), with proof or attestation of twelve hours of continuing professional education. Section 21a-10(b) governs the staggered renewal schedule.
Nothing in that cycle rewrites the face of your die. The license number is what appears beneath the legend, and the renewal duty attaches to your credential rather than to the seal. How renewal timing affects a Connecticut architect stamp covers the scheduling side in more detail.
What should you have in front of you before ordering?
Your license number exactly as issued, and the place name you want on the second line. Those two lines are the ones that get mistyped, and a mistyped number means the die gets cut twice.
Decide the diameter against your title block rather than against a rule, since no rule exists. If your drawings are issued at a reduced sheet size, order the smaller face and confirm the grapevine shield still resolves.
How do you check an impression before it goes into service?
Take a test impression on the sheet stock you actually issue on, then read the arcs, the number and the emblem against your license document rather than from memory. Character by character on the number, not at a glance.
Then copy the test sheet at the reduction your clients use. If the radial ticks merge into a solid ring or the ribbon lettering fills in, the face is too small for that workflow and a larger die solves it before the first submission rather than after.
Frequently asked questions
Does the second line have to name my town?
Section 20-293 fixes the legend and nothing beyond it, so that line is not governed by the statute. Production artwork places a place name there, and that is the convention Connecticut seals follow rather than a rule you can be measured against.
Can an embosser be used in Connecticut?
Chapter 390 names no device, so there is no provision permitting a press and none forbidding one. The words embossed, rubber stamp and facsimile simply do not appear in the chapter.
Is a digitally signed drawing dealt with anywhere in chapter 390?
No. The chapter has no electronic seal provision at all, names no certificate authority and describes no verification process. Nothing in the cited sources answers a digital signature question either way.
Is there a rule about sealing every sheet in a set?
Not in the cited sources. Sections 20-293 and 20-298 describe the documents that fall inside the duty without breaking that duty down sheet by sheet.
Can you seal after a license has lapsed?
The cited sources do not address use after a lapse. What they do set is the renewal obligation itself, at Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 20-292(a), (d) and 20-294, including the annual continuing education requirement.
Does anything on the die change when you renew?
Nothing the cited sources identify. Your license number is the identifier on the face, and the renewal cycle attaches to the credential rather than to the wording of the seal.
Confirm your license number against your license document, settle on the place name for the second line, then order from the Connecticut architect stamps and seals collection.
