The seal of the Polytechnic University of Bari features the octagonal plan of Castel del Monte in the background, a symbol of Puglia since the 13th century. This monument, as is well known, represents the meeting point of a variety of cultural components: Byzantine, Arab, Roman, and Nordic, all revolving around the complex figure of Frederick II of Swabia, who, driven by a strong thirst for knowledge, gathered at his court men of culture from every current of his time. And a Polytechnic, as a university structure for the creation and transmission of knowledge, cannot fail to be inspired by such a strongly integrated cultural vision.

At the center of the seal stands a two-headed lion with its head facing the altar of the crypt of the Basilica of San Nicola. 

“De remi facemmo ali” is the motto. The reference to the verse by Dante succinctly encapsulates the awareness of being at the crossroads between a past rich in history and culture and a future already outlined, yet still unexplored.

The evocative power of Dante's verses, in which Ulysses convinces his companions to continue the journey, enhances the insuppressible desire to soar towards the sky and perfection, ideals that the Polytechnic embodies.

Consider your seed:

you were not made to live like brutes,

but to follow virtue and knowledge.

These immortal verses could be considered a summary of the mission of the Polytechnic University of Bari. However, the evocative strength of the subsequent verses, where Ulysses, after convincing his men to continue, states:

and our stern turned towards morning,

from the oars we made wings for the mad flight

is an even more effective emblem of the spirit of adventure that is part of every scientific research, which must reconcile the careful knowledge of the navigator with the uncontainable curiosity of the explorer.