The Great Seal of the United States is the symbol of our sovereignty as a nation. Its obverse is used on official documents to authenticate the signature of the President and it appears on proclamations, warrants, treaties, and commissions of high officials of the government. The Great Seal's design, used as our national coat of arms, is also used officially as decoration on military uniform buttons, on plaques above the entrances to U.S. embassies and consulates, and in other places. Both the obverse and the less familiar reverse, which is never used as a seal, are imprinted on the one-dollar bill.1
The Coinage Act of 1792 defined the silver dollar as the primary unit of money in the United States. Only coins were considered legal tender. Until the Civil War, U.S. coins contained no mention of God. Paper money issued by banks and states had no official standing. The first U.S. paper money was not issued by the U.S. Treasury until the Civil War.
Above is the reverse side of a U.S. dollar bill, series 1935E. Both sides of the Great Seal of the United States can be seen, as can the motto, E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one), on the obverse (front) of the seal, shown on the right. The motto In God We Trust is absent as it did not appear on paper currency until 1957.2
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson to design a Great Seal for the United States. Each of them proposed a design for the seal. Adams described the three proposals in a letter to his wife, Abigail, dated August 14, 1776.3
Dr. F. proposes a Device for a Seal. Moses lifting up his Wand, and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh, in his Chariot overwhelmed with the Waters. - This Motto. Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.
Mr. Jefferson proposed. The Children of Israel in the Wilderness, led by a Cloud by day, and a Pillar of Fire by night, and on the other Side Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon Chiefs, from whom We claim the Honour of being descended and whose Political Principles and Form of Government We have assumed.
I proposed the Choice of Hercules, as engraved by Gribeline in some Editions of Lord Shaftsburys Works. The Hero resting on his Clubb. Virtue pointing to her rugged Mountain, on one Hand, and perswading him to ascend. Sloth, glancing at her flowery Paths of Pleasure, wantonly reclining on the Ground, displaying the Charms both of her Eloquence and Person, to seduce him into Vice. But this is too complicated a Group for a Seal or Medal, and it is not original.
These proposals contained references to Old Testament stories, two pagan warriors, and to a Greek myth; but none to Christianity. On August 20, 1776, the committee submitted its report to Congress. That same day, as Adams wrote, Congress rejected the recommendations which they "Ordered, To lie on the table."
Eventually, three committees and a total of fourteen men were involved. On June 13, 1782, the Continental Congress asked Charles Thomson to come up with a suitable design for the Great Seal. Thomson was highly respected, having served as Secretary of the Continental Congress for eight years and had been educated in the classics. Using suggestions from the committees and his own ideas, he submitted his design to Congress on June 20, 1782. It was approved the same day. He submitted only a description, remarks and explanation. No drawing was included.
The Escutcheon is composed of the chief & pale, the two most honorable ordinaries. The Pieces, paly, represent the several states all joined in one solid compact entire, supporting a Chief, which unites the whole & represents Congress. The Motto alludes to this union. 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 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 Olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace & war which is exclusively vested in Congress. The Constellation denotes a new State taking its place and rank among other sovereign powers. 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.
Reverse. The pyramid signifies Strength and Duration: The Eye over it & the Motto allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in favour of the American cause. The date underneath is that of the Declaration of Independence and the words under it signify the beginning of the new American Era, which commences from that date.
Thomson, the former Latin teacher, took the two Latin phrases on the reverse side of the Great Seal from the Aeneid, an epic poem written by the Roman poet Virgil who lived before the Christian Era (70 BC - 19 BC). A literal translation of Annuit Cœptis is "[Providence] Favors [Our] Undertakings." The original reference in the Aeneid, (which refers to 10 gods), is a prayer by Ascanius, son of Aeneas, before battling Numanus. It reads, Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnue coeptis.4 It translates to "Jupiter Almighty, favour [my] bold undertakings." The translation of Novus Ordo Seclorum is "A New Order of the Ages." The following year, in a letter to his wife, Hannah, Thomson wrote, "I entertain a fond hope that the same kind providence which has conducted us so far in our journey will open a way for the future happiness and prosperity of the United States."
The olive branch also appeared in the Aenid as a symbol of peace although it was used that way in ancient Egypt centuries before it appeared in Greek mythology.
Note: Paper currency was traditionally printed with simple color schemes and did not include the colors specified by Thomson for the Great Seal.
This is the current version of the Great Seal.5
Note: Although the first coins circulated by the U.S. government (copper cents) were minted in 1792, the U.S. Mint first used E Pluribus Unum on coins in 1795, on the Half Eagle $5 gold piece. That phrase was not used on all U.S. coins until after 1873 when a law was passed that required E Pluribus Unum to appear on all U.S. coins of new design.6