| Show ar 7 t q J A X A k awl al 4 0 0 1 1 thomas e ferson 1 1 N 4 f fe rahl di n by ELMO SCOTT WATSON president noo ver signs an important state document there la Is another cerenio ceremony ny which Is necessary before the document becomes official that consists of 0 affix affixing tog to it the great seat seal of 0 the united states which Is in the safekeeping of 0 the secretary of state slate a metal disk two and a half W in diameter and engraved aw with the coat of 0 arms of this nation and when nhen that Is done the document bears bear the imprint of the oldest adest national arms to ID the world despite the tact fact that the united states Is 13 a young nation for our coat of arms has retained its original design tor for nearly years longer than has that of other nations which are much older than ours the history of the great seal goes back to the founding of the republic tal ly soon after the adoption of the declaration of independence in 1770 a resolution was passed by the continental congress naming benjamin franklin thomas jefferson and d john job adams as 1 I a committee to design a coat of arms F for the new nation the original suggestion for the coat of arms was that the shield should be divided into sli six quarte rIngs each bearing the emblem of those countries whose c colonists ts y made up the greater part of the pop sg of the united states two of the features included in this committees mit tees design were later included in the present coat of arms but nothing definite was accomplished at that time on march 25 1779 the matter was again brought up for consideration and a second committee submitted a design in which the radiant constella tion of thirteen stars first made its appearance it also provided for thirteen alternate red and white stripes which were to be placed dlag anally across the shield but this committee design was not accepted tb then e a a third committee tried its hand band at the job and the members of this one called to their assistance a noted authority on heraldry dr william barton of philadelphia the design submitted by this corn com was a complicated one it provided tor for th thirteen ireen stripes or pales tt a constellation of thirteen stars an eagle poised on the summit of a doric column a helmet of gold on which was a cap of dignity surmounted by a i cock armed with galls on oil the right elde cide was a figure of the genius of america and on the left a man in armor over all gleamed the eye of providence and below the shield was wag the motto deo ta fa vente favored by god above the crest was another motto virtus sola In invicta victa virtue alone Is unconquerable finally out of 0 the suggestions put forth by the three committees the coat of 0 arms in its present form proposed by doctor barton and making use of some of the elements contained in the previous designs was adopted by congress on june 20 1782 by this time the seal had been stripped of every emblem that suggested monarchy and included those which emphasized pha sized the idea of democracy the outstanding features were the eagle the shield and the stars the eagle typical of those found to la tills this country anil and unlike those which appear on the imperial arms of austria Ger germany matly and lusila lus Ius sla stands for power and author w to in its right talon it holds an olive branch and in its left a bundle of thirteen arrows these den denoting ottlIg power in peace and in war the ancient symbol of peace the olive branch wits placed in the right talon to indicate that the first gesture of the new republic should be peace instead of war but the arrows in the lett left talon indicate that the notion nation stands glands ready to defend itself if need be the escuter escutcheon on was set across the breast of the eagle without auy any other support to show that the united states was wag to rely on its own strength the Jour nata of the continental congress afford an interesting analysis i gai 4 al yma flint great beal f the united states second great seal oi of the J united states of the coat of arms this tells of the sa s1 significance of the escutcheon in the relationship bet between Neen the individual states and the federal union in terms of heraldry it Is composed ol of achlen ach a chief lef and thirteen pales that Is an azure blue crossbar resting on stripes of gules guies red alternated with argent write the pieces paly reads the old text test represent the several states all joined in n one solid compact entire support supporting lug a chief which unites the whole and represents congress the motto alludes to this union the pales in the arms are kept closely united by the chief and the chief depends on that union and the strength resulting from it tor for its support to denote the confederacy of the united states of america and the preservation t of their union through congress the colors of the escutcheon are the same as those adopted for the flag in the famous flag resolution of june 14 1777 white for purity and innocence red for hardiness and valor and blue for vigilance perseverance and justice in its beak the eagle holds an unfurled scroll on which on a crimson ground are the words E pluribus unum one out of many above this Is the gly or the constellation stel lation of thirteen stars on an azure field breaking through a surrounding halo of clouds symbolical of the new oa nation tion emerging from the storm and stress of the revolution devolution the white stars against the background of blue also point to the unity of the states since if a line be drawn between the outer ones it forms a perfect six pointed star at the same game time that this seal was adopted another one intended to be the reverse of the coat of arms and to be used for stamping the wax on a ribbon attached to an important state paper thus making a hanging sent seal was also adopted on it Is a pyramid of thirteen steps with a culminating mina ting triangle suspended above it on this la Is the all seeing eye of providence looking down upon the unfinished pyramid by which it was intended to indicate that the united states had not attained a final state of spiritual perfection a goal toward which it must strive according to heraldry the pyramid stands for strength and durability the eye Is the symbol of the eternally vigilant providence which had favored the american cause so many times and this thought Is carried out in the latin motto anbult comptis god has f favored a the work across the top of the seal the date at the base of the pyramid Is 1770 when the nation was founded and the latin motto beneath nevils ordo heclo rum declares that then beg began an A new order of ages the original teal seat was cut in brass and is believed to lave have been used tor for the lie first time on a commission dated september 16 17 in which congress granted washington the power to arrange with the british tor for an exchange of prisoners of war this nas as signed by john hanson president ot of the congress and countersigned counter signed by charles thomson secretary the design of the seal eral remained unchanged to in any particular for or more than fifty years yeara during the time daniel webster was secretary of 0 state a second stal seal st al was cut on tills this occasion the artist placed six alx lx instead of thirteen arrows in the eagles left talon this seal eal was used until 1885 when a new one was made and the traditional number of arrows was restored to the seal not only Is the american seal the oldest national seal but it la Is also said to be the most perfectly balanced rod and most beautiful of all national insignia it has often been remarked that the makers of 0 the seal were unaffected by the superstitious fear of the number thirteen instead thirteen Is the keynote of the whole design not only are there thirteen stars and thir heeen stripes but there are thirteen arrows in the eagles talon and thirteen stars in the glory the motto B E pluribus unum contains thirteen rt ee n letters there are thirteen leaves on the olive branch and the same number of berries on the branch bralich the eagle has thirteen feathers in each wing and thirteen in its tall the title the cosit coat of 0 arms anns of the united states of america contains 39 or three times thirteen letters aud and it it one counts all these he will discover that the number thirteen Is repeated thirteen times in the whole design since the great seal contains several emblems which symbolize the tact fact that the nation was founded by rebellion against the tyranny of england it Is worthy of note that one of them the eagle Is of english origin in that it was suggested to john adams by sir john prestwich an eminent british antiquary the choice of 0 this bird which came to be popularly regarded as the national emblem was very distasteful to adoth another r mem member r 0 of the national great seal committee benjamin benjamie franklin in a letter to hla his daughter mrs sarah bache written on january 20 alle while franklin was in france he said ar for or my own part I 1 wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the rep of the coul country itry be Is a bird of bad moral character he do does not get his living honestly you may have seen him perched on some dead tree where too lazy to fish for himself he be watches the labor of the fishing hawk and when that dill diligent gent bird has at length taken a fish and Is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from him with all this injustice he la Is never in good case but like those among men who ahe by and robbing he Is gene generally raily poor and often very lousy besides he be is a rank coward modern science however has refuted some of these charges especially the one of cowardice the eagle as a symbol of racial and national power dates back to the time of the etruscans Etrus cans the roce that preceded the romans rome nome after the tha days of marius also adopted the eagle as t standard of legions it was waa represented with outspread wings later the byzantine emperors adopted the double headed beaded eagle which symbolized their claim to the eastern and western empires in the fourteenth century the ger mud emperors adopt adopted the eagle as belr their national emblem other european countries followed germanys germanas Germ anys lead prussian Irus sias emblem was distinguished by the black eagle Po poland lands by a white eagle napoleon made the eagle represent imperial france the emblem was dropped by the bourbon rulers but was restored by louis napoleon on january 1 I 1 |
