_USNM 604221-M (S-K 377). Figure 233._
[Illustration: FIGURE 233]
The old Alabama State seal with a representation of a map of the State
hung from a tree trunk, as depicted on the inner ring of this
cast-brass waist-belt plate, became obsolete after the Civil War when
the "reconstruction" government changed the device to that of an eagle
resting on a Federal shield. Some years later, however, the original
seal, in somewhat modified form, was readopted. Although made in the
early 1850's, plates of this type were worn by personnel of the
Confederate States Army throughout the Civil War. Many plates of this
same basic pattern were made in England and run through the blockade.