Executive Order 12304 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12304—Seal for the Panama Canal Commission

•

Wednesday, April 29, 1981

•

1 min read (225 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Ronald Reagan on 1981-04-29, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Seal for the Panama Canal Commission." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ Formal executive instruction issued by the President establishing official administrative policy on Seal for the Panama Canal Commission.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments

Total Words

225

1,210 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

8.4

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12304, Ronald Reagan (Apr 29, 1981). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12304-seal-for-the-panama-canal-commission.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. There is approved for the official use of the Panama Canal Commission a seal approved by the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Commission, and described as follows: A view of a lower lock chamber of the Panama Canal, showing the bow end of a ship in an upper chamber, behind a closed gate, flanked on the left by a control house and on the right by a towing locomotive and three lamp standards. The ship colors to be dull red hull with white trim, white superstructure, white king posts, and gray funnel. The lock walls, control house and lamp standards to be white. The control house roof to be dull red. The lock gate and towing locomotive to be gray. The sky to be light blue and the water to be azure blue. All to be encircled with a white band edged in navy blue and containing the inscription "PANAMA CANAL COMMISSION * COMMISSION DEL CANAL DE PANAMA *" in navy blue letters. Sec. 2. The design of the seal is attached hereto and made a part of this Order. RONALD REAGAN The White House, April 29, 1981. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:13 a.m., April 30, 1981]