Officials have been divided over the seal for years, but on Wednesday, a judge ruled that the cross should not have been added during a 2014 redesign.

Los Angeles County 2014

Los Angeles County violated the California constitution when it added a Christian cross to the official seal in 2014, a federal judge has ruled, dismissing arguments that the change was to promote historical accuracy.

The ruling means the county will have to go back to an older version of the seal that does not include the cross, though still features a Spanish mission as a nod to the region's Catholic roots. Wednesday's ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed over the cross by Episcopalian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders in 2014 following a series of contentious public meetings in which they argued the cross illegally favored Christianity.

Los Angeles County 1887 Los Angeles County 1957

Several versions of the county seal have existed over the years, some with a cross and some without. The oldest version dates to 1887, when the area was primarily agricultural, and features a bunch of grapes. The modern seal's design traces to 1957, when a cross was depicted floating over a stylized version of the Hollywood Bowl. Other icons within the seal included Pomona, goddess of gardens and fruit trees, a Spanish galleon, a tuna, a cow, engineering instruments, and oil derricks. But in 2004, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the county contending the cross symbolized an "impermissible endorsement of Christianity by the county." County officials decided to negotiate, and meetings were held to get the public's input on a new design. Christian residents at the time said the redesign was an attack on their faith. One supervisor characterized it as a "religious frenzy" akin to an inquisition. Other county leaders, however, said the 1957 seal reflected the local history. Ultimately, the Roman goddess in the seal was replaced with an indigenous woman, the cross was removed, but a depiction of the San Gabriel mission was added. At the time, there was no cross on the mission — it had been lost in an earthquake retrofit.

Los Angeles County 2004