The Cornell Mace and Baton were designed by Sir Eric Clements of the Goldsmiths' Guild of London in 1962 at the request of President Malott, under the direction of George Healey, Professor of English and Curator of Rare Books, with the assistance of George J. Hucker, Professor of Bacteriology and Chief in Research at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva.

The Mace consists of a tapered silver shaft surmounted by a golden terrestrial globe. The silver ribs surrounding the globe symbolize the universality of Cornell's interests and the worldwide affiliations of its faculty, students, staff, and alumni. At the top of the shaft, the Cornell Bear holds an oar. The University Mace and Baton were first presented as the symbols of university authority at the Inauguration of President James A. Perkins in 1963 and have been used at Commencements and Inaugurations since then.

On April 27, 1865, New York State Governor Reuben E. Fenton, in his chambers in the old State Capitol in Albany, signed the bill that constitutes the charter of Cornell University. Cornell University celebrated its first inauguration on October 7, 1868 in the Cornell Library, Ithaca’s first public library. At the ceremonies, Lieutenant Governor Stewart L. Woodford administered the oath of office to President White and presented him with the Charter, Seal, and keys of the university. For all of Cornell’s early inaugurations, the Charter and Seal represented the symbols of office. Ezra Cornell, a direct lineal descendant of the founder of Cornell University and a Life Trustee, will carry the original Charter (housed in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections of the Cornell University Library) at the Inauguration of President Lehman.

While Ezra Cornell spoke the words of Cornell University’s motto in his inaugural speech, it first appeared in writing on the original Great Seal, authorized by the Trustees in November 1866 and adopted as the corporate seal on October 6, 1868. The Seal first appeared on the cover of The Cornell University Register, 1868-69. The Seal always included the motto of the University. The University Bylaws mandate that:

The great seal of Cornell University shall be circular in form, two inches in diameter, and shall bear in the outer circle the words Cornell University and Founded A.D. 1865; and in the inner circle the words Ezra Cornell ‘I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study’ and in the center a profile likeness of Ezra Cornell.

The two-inch-diameter seal is affixed to or imprinted upon every diploma awarded by Cornell University.

A smaller, one-and-one-half inch diameter corporate seal does not include the motto, but in the outer circle the words Cornell University and Founded A.D. 1865, and in the center, above the words Ezra Cornell, a profile likeness of Ezra Cornell. This smaller seal can be used for all other official documents of the University requiring the use of a seal. The President of the University is the custodian of the Great Seal; the Secretary of the Corporation holds the corporate seal.