Anchorage's updated municipal seal took effect Jan. 1 under December ordinance

Anchorage's corporate seal changed Jan. 1, 2026, replacing a design that showed an airplane and a ship marking Captain Cook's 1778 voyage. A memo delivered to the Assembly on Tuesday reviews the change as part of the MOA50 anniversary effort.

The Assembly approved AO 2025-135(S), As Amended, on Dec. 16, 2025. The ordinance amended Anchorage Municipal Code 1.40.020 and directed the Municipal Clerk to order a new legal seal. The prior seal stays valid until the new one is in place.

The memo, from Assembly Chair Anna Brawley, Vice Chair Daniel Volland and Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, said: "The official seal represents a legal mark on behalf of our local government. As the Municipality has evolved, so too has our seal."

The ordinance offered five design options, including keeping the original seal. The Assembly held a work session Dec. 12 and a public hearing four days later. Some commenters on r/anchorage said the Assembly disregarded survey input and chose its own preferred design.

Most of the memo covers MOA50, which marks the 1975 unification of the City of Anchorage and the Greater Anchorage Area Borough. Planned activities include public events, Muniversity Lunch and Learn sessions, History Takes essays, community histories, Neighborhood Time Machine maps and a lasting archive at muni.org/50.

Legislative Services and the Anchorage Park Foundation commissioned Dena'ina artist Sebastian Garber to create artwork drawing on the original seal and on Indigenous quillwork. The same artwork will appear on downtown wayfinding signs set to launch in 2026.