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The Great Seal is one of the most recognizable symbols of the United States of America. First used in 1782, the design has remained largely unchanged since 1885. The design appears on the dollar bill, passports, military insignia, official documents, and various flags. The Seal of the President of the United States is directly based on the Great Seal. The design features a bald eagle with its wings outstretched and a shield on its chest. The eagle holds a bundle of 13 arrows in its left talon and an olive branch in its right talon. It also has its head turned toward the olive branch on its right side to symbolize a preference for peace. The olive branch is usually depicted with 13 leaves and 13 olives. In its beak, the eagle clutches a scroll with the motto E pluribus unum (“Out of Many, One”). Over its head appear 13 stars on a blue field, the number representing the original 13 colonies.
But that iconic seal almost looked starkly different.
The Second Continental Congress appointed a committee on July 4, 1776, the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted, to select a design for a United States seal. The original committee members were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. The committee submitted its recommendation on August 20, 1776, but Congress delayed its approval for six years, during which time it appointed two additional committees.
Adams preferred a seal featuring the image of the Greek god Hercules contemplating images of Virtue and Sloth. But Adams admitted this imagery was “too complicated a group for a seal or medal, and it is not original.”
Franklin produced a biblical scheme: “Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharaoh who is sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his head and a Sword in his hand. Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses, to express that he acts by Command of the Deity.” (see image) The seal also featured the motto: Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to god. Jefferson supported Franklin’s Biblical concept, although he preferred an image of the children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
But in addition to the emblem of Moses and Pharaoh, he became so enamored with the motto that he incorporated it into his own personal seal design. He proposed an additional image for the reverse side of the seal: “Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have assumed.
To be continued
Everything else is just history…
