Bullis Seal
The Bullis seal has undergone several transformations and variations since the School was founded in 1930. Today’s seal includes both traditional and modern elements.
View the new and previous versions of the seal, and learn about how each served as a visual window in the School’s history and evolution.
The Bullis seal, designed in 2024, brings together enduring Bullis icons to broadly recount the school’s story. At the center is the anchor. First introduced in the 1936 seal, the anchor has come and gone with different iterations of the logo, but has been a fixture in the seal since 1988. The bold shape symbolizes both Bullis’ naval origins and the steadfast Bullis spirit.
From the anchor emerges the Acorn and Oak Sapling, representing the journey every Bullis student makes. A laurel wreath encircles these elements, symbolizing both the quality of a Bullis education and the many generations of alumni flourishing beyond the Bullis campus. The year of Bullis’ founding, 1930, perches atop the points of the anchor. Underneath, BULLIS is presented in a serif typeface that meshes with the sharp elegance of the icon above.
From the anchor emerges the Acorn and Oak Sapling, representing the journey every Bullis student makes. A laurel wreath encircles these elements, symbolizing both the quality of a Bullis education and the many generations of alumni flourishing beyond the Bullis campus. The year of Bullis’ founding, 1930, perches atop the points of the anchor. Underneath, BULLIS is presented in a serif typeface that meshes with the sharp elegance of the icon above.
The candle, book, and anchor were more prominently featured and newly illustrated in a fresh contemporary style within the seal format. The Latin motto was replaced at this time with the words “Curans, Commovens, Communitas” to reflect the concept of a caring, challenging, community.
The older, detailed illustration of the candle, book, and anchor made a reappearance, recalling the image originally used in the 1930s as a School emblem.
Here the sailing ship was replaced by a simple line drawing of a candle, book, and anchor, reflecting the earlier motif used by Bullis in the 1930s and 1940s
A school brochure first featured an original drawing with elements selected by Commander Bullis: the lighted candle represents the light of knowledge, the book evokes learning and wisdom and the anchor denotes the School’s roots as a preparatory school for the Naval Academy. The candle, book, and anchor grouping and the ship’s prow with the motto “Scientia Punctum Saliens,” were both used as emblems representing Bullis.
The earliest use of a Bullis emblem was the prow of a battleship with the motto “Scientia Punctum Saliens,” which can be translated as “knowledge is the (essential) point.” On school stationery and in the brochures of the 1930s and 1940s, the ships prow appeared with “The Bullis School” and “Silver Spring, Maryland.” The prow of a ship, an emblem also used by the U.S. Navy, signified the School’s early ties with the Naval Academy and honored the many Bullis alumni who entered the Academy. At this time, Bullis School also adopted as its colors the blue and gold of the U.S. Navy.