The Great Seal of the Realm is a seal that is used to symbolise the sovereign's approval of state documents. It is also known as the Great Seal of the United Kingdom. To make it, sealing wax is melted in a metal mould or matrix and impressed into a wax figure that is attached by cord or ribbon to documents that the monarch wishes to seal officially. The formal keeper of the seal is the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.
An impression in wax of the Great Seal of the Realm (1953)
The Great Seal attached to the 2006 reissuance of the BBC Charter
The Great Seal of King John
Depiction of the Great Seal of the Realm (Charles I) on a 17th-century funerary monument (St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot, Worcestershire)
A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, or to prevent interference with a package or envelope by applying a seal which had to be broken to open the container.
Town seal (matrix) of Náchod (now in the Czech Republic) from 1570
Present-day impression of a Late Bronze Age seal
A stamp seal and its impression.
Mesopotamian limestone cylinder seal and the impression made by it—worship of Shamash
