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The National Park Service arrowhead was authorized as the agency's official emblem by the Secretary of the Interior on July 20, 1951. Created in 1949 by Aubrey V. Neasham, a Park Service historian, the insignia was intended to represent several aspects of the mission of the National Park Service: Its shape and earth-brown background embody our nation's cultural heritage exemplified in the parks by archaeology and history. The bison and the sequoia tree (symbols from the first two national parks--Yellowstone and Sequoia) represent the diverse natural world of plants and animals included within the system. The snowcapped mountain and glacier portrayed on the insignia's horizon and the white of the water in its right foreground signify the all-important values of scenery and recreation. The symbol first appeared on a park road sign, then a ranger uniform in September 1952. The icon was registered as an official emblem of the Park Service on February 9, 1965, by the United States Patent Office.
