Sergeant at Arms

 

At the State House in Columbia just before each daily session of South Carolina’s House of Representatives, the Sergeant at Arms, or his assistant, dressed in a black suit and tie and wearing white gloves, removes the great golden ceremonial Mace from its glass-front vault near the Speaker’s chair and places it in a special rack at the front of the podium.

 

On occasions when the House is invited by the Senate to ratify legislative acts, the Sergeant at Arms solemnly bears the Mace before the Speaker and the Clerk of the House in procession across the State House rotunda to the Senate chamber. There the Speaker, the President of the Senate and the Clerks of the two houses signs legislation. During these proceedings, the Mace rests in a holder on the Senate rostrum directly below the Sword of State, which symbolizes the Senate’s authority.