An Indiana licensed professional geologist seal carries your name, your license number and the legend Licensed professional geologist, set in the design printed in the rule. Its outside diameter has to fall between 1 5/8 and 1 7/8 inches. Only an embosser or a rubber stamp may apply it. This page covers the face, the size band, devices, signing, eligible documents, license status and ordering.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against 305 IAC 1-4-1(a), (b). Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Name and license number | Both appear on the face of the seal. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(a), (b) |
| Legend | The phrase Licensed professional geologist. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(a), (b) |
| Layout | Follows the seal design reproduced in the rule itself. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(a), (b) |
| Edge | Either a milled rim or a pair of concentric circles. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(a), (b) |
| Outside diameter | No smaller than 1 5/8 inches and no larger than 1 7/8 inches. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(a) |
| Devices | An embosser or a rubber stamp. No third method is named. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(b) |
| Electronic seal | Not mentioned. With the device list closed at two, the silence works as a bar. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(b) |
| Signature and date | A signature is presumed. Where it goes, and whether a date is needed, are not addressed. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(f) |
| Whose work you may seal | Work you created, or work by subordinates you regularly employ or directly supervise. | 305 IAC 1-4-1(d), (e), (f) |
| License status | Seal only while the license is current and neither suspended nor revoked. | 305 IAC 1-3-3, 305 IAC 1-3-4, 305 IAC 1-3-5, 305 IAC 1-4-1(d) |
What must an Indiana geologist seal show?
Five things, all drawn from 305 IAC 1-4-1(a), (b): your name, your license number, the legend Licensed professional geologist, the layout printed in the rule, and an edge finished as a milled rim or as two concentric circles.
Indiana does not leave the arrangement to you. The rule reproduces the design, and your name, number and legend drop into that artwork. The only choice left on the face is the edge treatment.
Order the legend word for word as the rule gives it. A face that swaps in a different professional title, or rearranges the elements, no longer matches the printed design. Our article on the Indiana geologist seal design looks at the face in more depth.
How large can the seal be?
The outside diameter must measure at least 1 5/8 inches and no more than 1 7/8 inches under 305 IAC 1-4-1(a). Any size inside that quarter-inch band complies, and anything smaller or larger falls outside the rule.
Because the rule speaks of an outside diameter, measure across the whole impression at its outer edge, rim included, not across the lettering alone. A 1 3/4 inch seal sits in the middle of the band and leaves a margin on both sides.
The rule does not name a shape in words. What fixes the look is the printed design together with the two permitted edge finishes.
Which devices can apply an Indiana geologist seal?
Two, and the list ends there. Under 305 IAC 1-4-1(b), the seal is either embossed into the paper or applied with a rubber stamp. A computer generated impression is not among the permitted methods.
An embosser presses a raised impression into the sheet, while a rubber stamp leaves an inked one. Both must follow the same printed design and the same size band, so one set of artwork serves either device.
Our page on getting an Indiana geologist stamp covers the inked option in more detail.
Do you need both an embosser and a rubber stamp?
No. 305 IAC 1-4-1(b) presents embossing and a rubber stamp as alternatives, so either device on its own satisfies the rule. Owning both is a convenience for offices that issue different kinds of documents, not a requirement.
If you do keep both, order them from the same artwork and at the same diameter. Two devices that disagree on spacing or size invite questions about which one is the real seal.
Can an Indiana geologist seal a document electronically?
No electronic route appears in the geologist rule. 305 IAC 1-4-1(b) names embossing and a rubber stamp and nothing more, and in that setting the silence reads as a prohibition rather than a gap waiting to be filled.
For daily practice, the seal goes onto the document by hand through one of the two named devices. Pasting a scanned image of your seal into a file, or printing a page that already shows one, is not a method the rule lists.
Does the rule say where the signature and date go?
No. 305 IAC 1-4-1(f) refers to documents bearing the geologist's seal or signature, which takes a signature for granted, but it sets no placement for that signature and says nothing about a date at all.
The same subsection links sealing to comprehension. Placing your seal or signature on a document whose contents you do not understand counts as a code of ethics violation, so read before you stamp.
With placement left open, a steady office habit fills the space: choose one position for your signature relative to the impression and repeat it on every sheet you issue.
Which documents may carry the seal?
305 IAC 1-4-1(d) answers with conditions rather than a list of document types. The seal belongs only on work you created or that was created by subordinates you regularly employ or directly supervise, and only while your license stands in good order.
The test is authorship and supervision, not the title on the cover. A report from an outside party you neither employ nor directly supervise does not meet the condition as the rule words it.
For a wider look at the regulations behind the seal, read our guide to Indiana geologist stamp regulations.
When is the seal off limits?
Whenever your license is not current, or has been suspended or revoked. 305 IAC 1-4-1(d)(1) allows the seal to be affixed only when none of those three conditions applies to your license.
The renewal and lapse provisions read for this page are 305 IAC 1-3-3, 305 IAC 1-3-4, 305 IAC 1-3-5 and 305 IAC 1-4-1(d). Your right to use the seal tracks the status of that license.
For how the credential is earned in the first place, see our article on Indiana professional geologist certification.
What should you have ready when you order?
Four details settle an Indiana geologist order: your name and license number, the edge you prefer, a diameter inside the 1 5/8 to 1 7/8 inch band, and the device, whether embosser, rubber stamp or one of each.
Type the name and number from your license rather than from memory or old letterhead. Our overview of the Indiana geologist seal gives more background if you are ordering for the first time.
How do you check a new seal before first use?
Make a test impression on plain paper and hold it against the rule. Confirm the name, license number and legend, check the edge finish, and measure the outside diameter to see that it lands between 1 5/8 and 1 7/8 inches.
Then compare the arrangement with the design printed in 305 IAC 1-4-1(a). A face with every word correct can still miss the rule if its layout departs from that printed design.
Every other jurisdiction is compared in our geologist seal rules for all 54 U.S. jurisdictions, with the citation for each.
Frequently asked questions
Do a 1 5/8 inch seal and a 2 inch seal both comply?
Only the first. The rule sets 1 5/8 inches as the smallest permitted outside diameter, so a seal at exactly that size is fine. A 2 inch seal exceeds the 1 7/8 inch ceiling.
Does printing a PDF that already shows my seal count as sealing?
No. The permitted methods are embossing and a rubber stamp. An image that prints along with the page is computer generated, and that is not a method 305 IAC 1-4-1(b) allows.
Is a milled rim preferred over concentric circles?
Neither is preferred. The rule offers the two edge finishes as equal alternatives, so pick the one that reads best at your chosen diameter.
Can my firm name or an expiration date go on the seal?
Neither appears among the elements listed in 305 IAC 1-4-1(a), (b). Those elements are your name, license number, legend, the printed design and the edge.
Can I use the seal again once my license is reinstated?
Yes, once the license is current and no suspension or revocation is in force. Those are the conditions 305 IAC 1-4-1(d)(1) sets for affixing the seal.
Once your name, number and preferred edge are settled, choose an embosser or rubber stamp from our Indiana stamps and seals collection.
