For use by Federal Government Agencies Only. Formal retirement or career service award certificates, as authorized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Certificates for 5, 10 and 15 year have bronze seals, while certificates for 20 and 25 years come in silver; all of these will only be sold in packages of 25. Career service award certificates for 35, 40, 45 and 50 years of service and the retirement certificate will have gold seals and are sold individually. Printed on high quality, off-white heavy paper stock, each version comes in one of two sizes: either 8 X10 inches to fit standard certificate folders or 8.5 X 11 inches for frames.
Each certificate is embossed with a beautiful metallic version in either bronze, silver or gold color of the Great Seal of the United States (see image on the right), used for official Government documents. The Great Seal depicts a laurel wreath surrounding a heraldic bald eagle with a shield over its chest, clutching a bundle of 13 arrows in its left talon, referring to the 13 original states, and an olive branch in its right talon, together symbolizing that the United States has "a strong desire for peace, but will always be ready for war."
