This Day In History: June 20

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On June 20, 1782, after six years of discussion.

The front of the seal depicts a bald eagle clutching an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left. On its breast appears a shield marked with 13 vertical red and white stripes topped by a bar of blue. The eagle鈥檚 beak clutches a banner inscribed, E pluribus unum, a Latin phrase meaning 鈥淥ut of Many One.鈥 Above the eagle鈥檚 head, golden rays burst forth, encircling 13 stars.

Charles Thomson outlined the symbolic connotations of the seal鈥檚 elements when he presented his design to Congress. The bottom of the shield (or pale) represents the 13 states united in support of the blue bar at the top of the shield (or chief), 鈥渨hich unites the whole and represents Congress.鈥 The motto E Pluribus Unum serves as a textual representation of the same relationshiptho. The colors used in the shield are the same as those in the flag: alternating red and white for the important balance between innocence and valor, topped by the blue of 鈥渧igilance, perseverance and justice.鈥 The eagle鈥檚 talons hold symbols of Congress power to make peace (the olive branch) and war (arrows). The constellation of stars indicates that 鈥渁 new State [is] taking its place and rank among other sovereign powers.鈥

The reverse side of the seal bears the familiar Masonic motif of a pyramid, which Thomson proposed as a symbol of 鈥淪trength and Duration.鈥 The pyramid, like the new nation, is unfinished and frequently depicted as having 13 steps for the original states. The disembodied eye floating above the structure is that of providence, which Thomson believed had acted 鈥渋n favour of the American cause.鈥 Beneath the pyramid, the number 1776 appears in Roman numerals as a reminder of the year of independence. The phrase Annuit Coeptis or 鈥淧rovidence has Favored Our Undertakings鈥 appears above the providential eye; Novus Ordo Seclorum or 鈥淎 New Order of the Ages鈥 appears beneath the pyramid.