Thomson took the symbolism for the colors from Elements of Heraldry, by Antoine Pyron du Martre, which William Barton had lent him. The Escutcheon is born on the breast of an American Eagle without any other supporters to denote that the United States of America ought to rely on their own Virtue. The Constellation denotes a new State taking its place and rank among other sovereign powers. The Olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace & war which is exclusively vested in Congress. The colours of the pales are those used in the flag of the United States of America White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valor, and Blue, the colour of the Chief signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice. The pales in the arms are kept closely united by the chief and the Chief depends upon that union & the strength resulting from it for its support, to denote the Confederacy of the United States of America & the preservation of their union through Congress. The Pieces, paly, represent the several states all joined in one solid compact entire, supporting a Chief, which unites the whole & represents Congress. The Escutcheon is composed of the chief & pale, the two most honorable ordinaries. The primary official explanation of the symbolism of the great seal was given by Charles Thomson upon presenting the final design for adoption by Congress. The eagle has its head turned towards the olive branch, on its right side, to symbolize a preference for peace. The arrows and olive branch together symbolize that the United States has "a strong desire for peace, but will always be ready for war." (see Olive Branch Petition). The recurring number 13 refers to the 13 original states. Over its head there appears a " glory" with 13 mullets (stars) on a blue field. In its beak, the eagle clutches a scroll with the motto E pluribus unum ("Out of Many, One"). Although not specified by law, the olive branch is usually depicted with 13 leaves and 13 olives. From the eagle's perspective, it holds a bundle of 13 arrows in its left talon, and an olive branch in its right talon. The supporter of the shield is a bald eagle with its wings outstretched (or " displayed", in heraldic terms). The outermost stripes are white, not red, to avoid violation of the rule of tincture, as the chief is blue.the chief of the arms of the United States Senate). The blue chief contains no stars (although certain derivative arms do, e.g.The escutcheon (shield) bears resemblance to the United States flag, with two exceptions in particular: (six red stripes on a white field), but the phrase used was chosen to preserve the reference to the 13 original states.
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A more technically proper blazon would have been argent, six pallets gules. Paleways of 13 pieces, argent and gules a chief, azure.Īs the designers recognized, this is a technically incorrect blazon under traditional English heraldic rules, since in English practice a vertically striped shield would be described as " paly", not "paleways", and it would not have had an odd number of stripes. The 1782 resolution of Congress adopting the arms, still in force, legally blazoned the shield as: The arms as held by Columbia in the war scene of the United States Capitol's 1865 Apotheosis of Washington It is nearly identical to previous versions, which in turn were based on Lossing's 1856 version. The current rendering of the reverse was made by Teagle & Little of Norfolk, Virginia, in 1972.
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Today's official versions from the Department of State are largely unchanged from the 1885 designs.
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The Seal of the President of the United States is directly based on the Great Seal, and its elements are used in numerous government agency and state seals. The coat of arms is used on official documents-including United States passports-military insignia, embassy placards, and various flags. Since 1935, both sides of the Great Seal have appeared on the reverse of the one-dollar bill. įirst used in 1782, the seal is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the federal government of the United States. The obverse of the Great Seal depicts the national coat of arms of the United States. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself, which is kept by the United States Secretary of State, and more generally for the design impressed upon it. The Great Seal is a principal national symbol of the United States. In the zenith an eye in a triangle, surrounded by a glory, proper" and the Latin mottoes Annuit cœptis and Novus ordo seclorum The obverse depicts the national arms, while the reverse depicts "A pyramid unfinished. Obverse (left) and reverse (right) side of the Great Seal, adopted in 1782.