The "Rosette"
The nature of the symbol Seshat wears on Her head was rendered in many different ways throughout history -- sometimes flower-like with distinct petals, sometimes star-like, and frequently more abstract and "lazy" in later periods. Until the 18th dynasty, the number of points/rays/petals was always 7, but during the reign of Thutmose III it was 9, while during the Ramesside period it was usually 5.

There is no consensus among Egyptologists as to what the symbol is. Most seem to agree that it is some sort of plant, but cannot identify it. During a ritual appearance at the House of Netjer 2002 New Year Celebration, Seshat revealed to us that Her symbol is a closed Egyptian lotus (aka blue water lily).

This flower opens in the morning to greet the sun and closes again in the afternoon. A closed lotus is therefore a symbol of cyclic time, a time of fertile potential just as the waters of the Nun are a place of potential.

The "Horns"
The upper part of the symbol was originally a pair of tall upright feathers atop a curved line, what Wainwright called the "month-sign." This later was rendered as a pair of animal horns (from which the name Sefkhet-Abwy was derived) or sometimes just a semicircle with or without a raised squarish bump in the center.

The Leopard Skin
Seshat is typically depicted wearing a leopard skin garment, often including dangling paws and tail, alone or over a white dress. The significance of the leopard skin is the pattern upon it, not the animal it came from -- Seshat is in no way a feline goddess, nor does She have an animal or animal-headed form.

The leopard skin is the sign of office of a setem (funerary) priest; the many spots are meant to represent a sky full of stars, which are the akhu (the shining blessed dead). In fact, in some renderings Seshat wears a dress festooned with hundreds of tiny five-rayed star hieroglyphs, though in some of lower quality a busy crosshatch design is used instead.

The Palm Branch
Seshat characteristically carries a notched palm branch, or rather, the central rib of the date palm. This is the hieroglyph renpet ("year",) and is the headpiece of the gods Renpet and Heh.

Some have speculated that the branch was notched to tally the years, particularly years of the king's reign. However, archaeologists have found no actual notched palm branches. Scenes of Seshat marking or notching the branches did not appear before the reign of Hatshepsut (New Kingdom), and that in the context of renewing the king's reign; it is possible that the branch in this context was a pun for renep ("become young.")

The base of the branch frequently bears the tadpole hieroglyph for "millions," and the shen hieroglyph for "eternity." Tiny sed-festival pavillions and images of Heh (the personification of eternity) often dangle from the curved top of the branch as well. Overall, the branch could be read as "millions of years of sed-festivals for eternity," a mythically long reign Seshat would decree for the king in ritual scenes.

So Seshat carries days (the lotus), months (the month-sign) and years (the palm branch) with Her, as well as the blessed dead (the leopard skin). Not exactly the accoutrements of a patron of scribes and architects...