Great Seal of the United States
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| Great Seal of the United States | |
|---|---|
 U.S. Government · Public domain · source | |
| Name | Great Seal of the United States |
| Caption | Obverse of the Great Seal |
| Adopted | 1782 |
| Motto | E Pluribus Unum; Annuit Cœptis; Novus Ordo Seclorum |
Great Seal of the United States is the official emblem used to authenticate certain documents issued by the President of the United States and the United States federal government. Commissioned during the era of the American Revolutionary War and finalized in the early years of the United States Constitution, the seal's imagery has been reproduced across United States currency, United States passports, and federal insignia. Its design and mottoes reflect influences from figures and documents such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation.
History
The creation of the seal began with the Second Continental Congress amidst the American Revolutionary War when committees chaired by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson proposed emblems referencing classical antiquity and contemporary republican symbolism. After revisions influenced by artists and engravers associated with the Continental Congress and the Congress of the Confederation, final approval occurred during the George Washington administration in 1782. The seal's adoption intersected with debates in the First Continental Congress precedent and later informed iconography used in the War of 1812 era and the expansion under the Louisiana Purchase. Designers and advisors included Charles Thomson and engravers connected to the United States Mint and the Library of Congress, and the seal's imagery was periodically revisited during administrations from Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln and into the Franklin D. Roosevelt era for use on official documents and proclamations such as those archived at the National Archives and Records Administration.
Design and Symbolism
The obverse bears a heraldic eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows, echoing motifs found in the iconography of the Renaissance and the heraldry of states like Great Britain and republics such as Venice. The shield on the eagle references iconographic conventions employed by the United States Congress and reflects the thirteen original states represented by stars and stripes, linking to the Thirteen Colonies and events like the Boston Tea Party. The scroll in the eagle's beak bears the Latin motto E Pluribus Unum, while the reverse presents a radiating pyramid surmounted by an eye within a triangle and the mottoes Annuit Cœptis and Novus Ordo Seclorum, drawing from Roman motifs and Enlightenment thinkers including Cesare Beccaria and John Locke. Artists and engravers who influenced the motif worked in aesthetic traditions comparable to those of Benjamin West and John Trumbull, and the seal's symbolism has been compared to iconography in documents like the Treaty of Paris (1783) and artistic programs in civic buildings such as the United States Capitol and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Legal Status and Usage
Federal law and executive practice determine authorized uses of the seal; the United States Code and regulations maintained by the Department of State govern the impression and replication of the seal. The seal authenticates commissions, treaties, and presidential proclamations, and its custody involves offices such as the Chancellor of the United States-style functions within the Executive Office of the President and custodial agencies including the National Archives and Records Administration. Unauthorized commercial use has prompted enforcement actions informed by statutes on insignia and marks in the context of United States trademark law and federal appropriation statutes; disputes over reproduction intersect with precedent set in cases arising before the United States Supreme Court and litigation within the United States Court of Appeals.
Manufacture and Authentication
Engraving and die-making for official matrices have been performed by contractors associated with the United States Mint and private engravers historically commissioned during the Early Republic and later by federal instrument makers connected to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Authentic impressions require specified dies, inks, and papers as recorded in archival instructions preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress. Authentication of impressions on documents like presidential commissions or international treaties often involves signatures of the Secretary of State or seals applied by officials within the Department of State or the United States Department of Defense for military commissions, with contested forgeries adjudicated in federal courts including the United States District Court.
Cultural Impact and Depictions
The seal's imagery appears widely in popular culture, reproductions on United States currency and United States passport, and adaptations in works by Norman Rockwell and depictions in films tied to events like the Watergate scandal and presidential portrayals from administrations such as Richard Nixon through Barack Obama. It features in visual programs at federal monuments such as the Washington Monument, the Capitol Rotunda, and the Lincoln Memorial, and has been referenced in literature by authors engaging with American iconography including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Mark Twain. Conspiracy theories and alternative readings have attached to elements of the pyramid and eye, discussed in popular accounts linked to groups like Freemasonry and events such as the Freemasons' influence in the Early United States, while scholarly analyses appear in studies by historians at institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and Harvard University.