Section 52-5-3. Issuance of certificate of incorporation generally

   When the petition shall have been filed with the Secretary of State, he shall issue to the company, under the great seal of the state, the following form of certificate:
      "To all to whom these presents may come -- Greetings:
      Whereas, in pursuance of an Act of the General Assembly of Georgia, approved December 6, 1894, and (naming the persons who signed the petition) having filed in the office of the Secretary of State a certain petition seeking the formation of a corporation to be known as (here insert corporate name), with a capital stock of $    , for the purpose of owning, constructing, equipping, maintaining, and operating vessels, steamboats, and all other watercraft to be engaged in navigation, and having complied with the statutes in such cases made and provided; therefore, the State of Georgia hereby grants unto the above-named persons, their successors, and assigns full authority, by and under the said name of     , to exercise the powers and privileges of a corporation for the purposes above-stated, subject to the Constitution of this state and all laws governing such navigation companies of force at the date of the granting of this certificate or that may hereafter become of force, either by constitutional or statute law.
      In witness whereof, these presents have been signed by the Secretary of State, and to which is annexed the great seal of the State of Georgia, at Atlanta, Georgia, this    day of     ,     ."

Ga. L. 1894, p. 71, § 3; Civil Code 1895, § 2149; Civil Code 1910, § 2567; Code 1933, § 17-203; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 67; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 52.