Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says he was only joking when he told staffers that he covered up the bare breast of a goddess on the state seal because of a sense of modesty. The real reason, he says, was a nod to history.

Cuccinelli gave his staffers lapel pins depicting the Roman goddess Virtus with an armor plate over her breasts, according to the Washington Post, the Washington Post’s Virginia Politics blog and the Virginian-Pilot. The current state seal depicts Virtus with a blue tunic draped over one shoulder, leaving a bare breast exposed. The Huffington Post has photos.

The armor plate was featured in an older version of the state seal used before the current emblem was adopted in the 1930s, the Post reports. Cuccinelli says he told staffers that Virtus had become more virtuous in an effort to get them to laugh.