Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists and LAC 46:LXII § 1501 on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
Louisiana licenses a professional geoscientist, and the Board supplies the approved seal design once you are licensed. LAC 46:LXII § 1501 creates the device and the duty in one section: “Each professional geoscientist, upon licensure, shall obtain an official seal,” and “A licensee shall affix an unobscured seal, original signature, and date of signature to the original documents contained in the final version of any geoscience document.” Neither the rule nor the Board publishes a diameter or a legend, so the artwork has to come from the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists rather than from another state’s template.
The word unobscured is doing real work. A seal placed under a title block, half covered by a signature or lost in a revision cloud does not satisfy the rule, so leave clear space for it. The section also makes you “personally and professionally responsible and accountable for the care, custody, control and use of his/her seal, professional signature and identification.”
The draft rule cuts both ways. Preliminary or draft documents need no stamp, and in exchange “each sheet or page of a preliminary or draft document shall be clearly and prominently marked ‘preliminary’ or ‘draft’.” The marking duty runs sheet by sheet, so a cover disclaimer on a fifty page report does not satisfy it.
Louisiana geologist seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Louisiana rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | LAC 46:LXII § 1501 |
| Required elements | The Board supplies the approved seal design on licensure; the rule prescribes use rather than a word list | Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists, seal guidance (Board approved seal design issued on licensure) |
| Size and shape | Not addressed. Neither LAC 46:LXII § 1501 nor the Board’s published seal page states a diameter, a shape or a proportion. The sources here are the Board’s Rules document for every seal provision and. | LAC 46:LXII § 1501 (silent on dimensions) |
| Device allowed | Not addressed as a list of devices. | LAC 46:LXII § 1501 |
| Signature and date | Unobscured seal, original signature and date of signature, on the original documents in the final version. | LAC 46:LXII § 1501 |
| What must be sealed | The original documents contained in the final version of any geoscience document, where geoscience documents are “maps, cross sections, drawings, descriptions, charts, graphs, reports, documents, or other records. | LAC 46:LXII § 1501 |
| Electronic seal | Louisiana states a transmission condition rather than a signature technology: “Documents which require a seal may be transmitted electronically provided the seal, signature and date of the licensee is transmitted in a secure mode that precludes the seal, signature and date being produced or modified.” No certificate authority, cryptographic standard or approved vendor is named, and no replacement wording is prescribed for uncertified transmissions of the kind LAPELS requires of engineers and land surveyors at LAC 46:LXI § 2701.A.5. | LAC 46:LXII § 1501 |
| Renewal and lapse | Not addressed in the seal section. | La. R.S. 37:711.1 through 711.24 |
| Firm requirements | Not addressed in the seal section. | LAC 46:LXII § 1501 (no firm provision) |
| Regulator | The Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists | LAC Title 46 Part LXII (Professional Geoscientists), Chapter 15, § 1501, read from the Board’s published Rules document |
Is a seal required in Louisiana?
LAC 46:LXII § 1501 creates the device and the duty in the same section. “Each professional geoscientist, upon licensure, shall obtain an official seal,” and “A licensee shall affix an unobscured seal, original signature, and date of signature to the original documents contained in the final version of any geoscience document.” The same section makes the licensee “personally and professionally responsible and accountable for the care, custody, control and use of his/her seal, professional signature and identification.” The governing statute is the Louisiana Professional Geoscience Practice Act, R.S. 37:711.1 through 711.24.
What must appear on the seal
- The Board supplies the approved seal design on licensure; the rule prescribes use rather than a word list
Not addressed in the rule. Section 1501 requires an official seal and an unobscured impression and does not print a legend or an element list. The Board’s own seal page states the position bluntly: you receive the Board approved seal design once you are licensed. Copy that artwork rather than assembling wording from another state, and in particular do not letter the Registered Professional Geologist legend used in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi, or the Licensed Professional Geologist legend used in Delaware and New Hampshire. Louisiana licenses a professional geoscientist.
Size and shape
Not addressed. Neither LAC 46:LXII § 1501 nor the Board’s published seal page states a diameter, a shape or a proportion. The sources here are the Board’s Rules document for every seal provision and read its Resources seal page in full, which supplies the design on licensure and refers the reader to Title 46 Part LXII Chapter 15 and to R.S. 37:711.1 through 711.24. Build to the Board approved design and ask the Board for the specimen.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
Not addressed as a list of devices. Section 1501 speaks of affixing an unobscured seal and does not name an embosser, a rubber stamp or a computer generated seal. What it does address is electronic transmission, which presupposes an electronic form of the seal. Because the rule requires the impression to be unobscured and to travel with an original signature and a date on the original documents in the final version, a rubber stamp built to the Board approved design is the safe buy.
Signing and dating
Unobscured seal, original signature and date of signature, on the original documents in the final version. Section 1501 states all three together, and the word unobscured is doing real work: a seal partly covered by a signature, a title block or a revision cloud does not satisfy the rule. The section states no rule requiring the signature to cross the impression, and the requirement that the seal be unobscured points the other way.
Unobscured, and every draft sheet has to say draft
Section 1501 uses a word most sealing rules do not: the licensee affixes an unobscured seal, original signature and date of signature to the original documents in the final version of a geoscience document. A stamp placed under a title block, half-covered by a signature or lost in a revision cloud is not unobscured. Leave clear space for it.
Which documents must be sealed
The original documents contained in the final version of any geoscience document, where geoscience documents are “maps, cross sections, drawings, descriptions, charts, graphs, reports, documents, or other records of geoscientific practice.” The carve-out is labelling and it is expressly stated: “Preliminary or draft documents do not require a PG stamp; however, each sheet or page of a preliminary or draft document shall be clearly and prominently marked ‘preliminary’ or ‘draft’.” Note that the marking duty runs sheet by sheet, not once on a cover.
Electronic and digital seals
Louisiana states a transmission condition rather than a signature technology: “Documents which require a seal may be transmitted electronically provided the seal, signature and date of the licensee is transmitted in a secure mode that precludes the seal, signature and date being produced or modified.” No certificate authority, cryptographic standard or approved vendor is named, and no replacement wording is prescribed for uncertified transmissions of the kind LAPELS requires of engineers and land surveyors at LAC 46:LXI § 2701.A.5. The duty is on the licensee to use a secure mode.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
Not addressed in the seal section. Section 1501 puts care, custody, control and use of the seal on the licensee personally and professionally, and does not say what happens on expiration, suspension or revocation, whether the license number changes on reinstatement, or whether the device must be surrendered. The sources here are the Board’s Rules document for every seal provision and its seal guidance page. Renewal and discipline run under the Louisiana Professional Geoscience Practice Act, R.S. 37:711.1 through 711.24, and the Board’s standard operating procedures.
Firm requirements
Not addressed in the seal section. Section 1501 describes the seal as the individual licensee’s and places personal and professional responsibility for its care, custody, control and use on that licensee. No firm seal, firm name or firm number appears in the section. The sources here are the Board’s Rules document for every seal provision. Take any firm registration requirement from the Louisiana Professional Geoscience Practice Act rather than by analogy to LAPELS, whose rule at LAC 46:LXI § 2701.A.1 expressly forbids firms from possessing or using seals.
What to check before you order
Ask the Board for the approved seal design; its own guidance says you receive it once you are licensed, and neither the rule nor the Board publishes a diameter or a legend you could build from. A rubber stamp is the practical device, because the rule requires an unobscured impression on original documents alongside an original signature and the date of signature. Leave clear space for the seal so nothing overlaps it. Stamp the original documents in the final version of any geoscience document, which includes maps, cross sections, drawings, descriptions, charts, graphs and reports. If you issue a preliminary or draft document, you do not need the stamp, but you must mark every sheet or page preliminary or draft. When you transmit a sealed document electronically, use a secure mode that prevents the seal, signature and date from being reproduced or modified.
Browse geologist stamps and seals.
Frequently asked questions
Is a geoscientist seal required in Louisiana?
Yes. LAC 46:LXII § 1501 requires each professional geoscientist to obtain an official seal on licensure and to affix an unobscured seal, original signature and date of signature to the original documents contained in the final version of any geoscience document. The governing statute is the Louisiana Professional Geoscience Practice Act, R.S. 37:711.1 through 711.24.
What goes on a Louisiana geoscientist seal?
Whatever the Board approved design carries. Section 1501 requires an official seal and an unobscured impression without printing a legend or an element list, and the Board’s own seal page states that you receive the Board approved seal design once you are licensed. Do not letter the Registered Professional Geologist legend used in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi, or the Licensed Professional Geologist legend used in Delaware and New Hampshire. Louisiana licenses a professional geoscientist.
What size is it?
No dimension is published. Neither LAC 46:LXII § 1501 nor the Board’s seal page states a diameter, a shape or a proportion, so build to the Board approved design and ask the Board for the specimen. Size for legibility on a report page and leave clear margin around it, given the unobscured requirement.
Rubber stamp or embosser?
The rule names no device type. Section 1501 speaks of affixing an unobscured seal and does not mention an embosser, a rubber stamp or a computer generated seal. A rubber stamp built to the Board approved design is the safe buy, because the impression has to be unobscured and has to travel with an original signature and a date on the original documents in the final version.
What does unobscured mean in practice?
That nothing covers the impression. Section 1501 uses a word most sealing rules do not, and it rules out a stamp placed under a title block, partly hidden by a signature or crossed by a revision cloud. The section states no rule requiring the signature to cross the seal, and the unobscured requirement points the other way, so sign beside it.
Which documents have to be sealed?
The original documents contained in the final version of any geoscience document, where geoscience documents are “maps, cross sections, drawings, descriptions, charts, graphs, reports, documents, or other records of geoscientific practice.” That reaches most of what a Louisiana geoscience practice issues.
Do I have to seal drafts?
No, but you have to mark them. The rule is explicit: “Preliminary or draft documents do not require a PG stamp; however, each sheet or page of a preliminary or draft document shall be clearly and prominently marked ‘preliminary’ or ‘draft’.” Sheet by sheet is the operative phrase.
How do I transmit a sealed document electronically?
In a secure mode. Section 1501 states a transmission condition rather than a signature technology: “Documents which require a seal may be transmitted electronically provided the seal, signature and date of the licensee is transmitted in a secure mode that precludes the seal, signature and date being produced or modified.” No certificate authority, cryptographic standard or approved vendor is named, and no replacement wording is prescribed for uncertified transmissions of the kind LAPELS requires of engineers and land surveyors at LAC 46:LXI § 2701.A.5. The duty to use a secure mode is yours.
What happens to my seal if my license lapses?
Section 1501 does not say. It puts the care, custody, control and use of the seal on you personally and professionally, and is silent on expiration, suspension and revocation, on whether the license number changes on reinstatement and on whether the device must be surrendered. Renewal and discipline run under the Louisiana Professional Geoscience Practice Act, R.S. 37:711.1 through 711.24, and the Board’s standard operating procedures.
Can a Louisiana geoscience firm hold a seal?
Section 1501 describes the seal as the individual licensee’s and places personal and professional responsibility for its care, custody, control and use on that licensee, with no firm seal, firm name or firm number anywhere in the section. Take any firm registration requirement from the Louisiana Professional Geoscience Practice Act rather than by analogy to LAPELS, whose rule at LAC 46:LXI § 2701.A.1 expressly forbids firms from possessing or using seals.
