Chapter V: The Arms Adopted

On June 20, 1782, the seal was finally decided upon.

On report of the secretary, to whom were referred the several reports
on the device for a great seal, to take order:

The device for an armorial achievement and reverse of the great seal
for the United States in Congress assembled, is as follows:

ARMS. Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules; a chief, azure;
the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed proper,
holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a
bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll,
inscribed with this motto, “_E pluribus Unum_.”

For the CREST. Over the head of the eagle, which appears above the
escutcheon, a glory, or, breaking through a cloud, proper, and
surrounding thirteen stars, forming a constellation, argent, on an
azure field.

REVERSE. A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a triangle,
surrounded with a glory proper. Over the eye these words, “_Annuit
Cœptis_.” On the base of the pyramid the numerical letters MDCCLXXVI.
And underneath the following motto, “_Novus Ordo Seclorum_.”[28]

REMARKS AND EXPLANATION

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 on 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 & valour, 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 Æra, which commences from that date.

THE FIRST SEAL (1782)
]

THE SECOND SEAL (1841)

Face p. 43
]

This entire report is in Thomson’s handwriting and is endorsed by him: “Device for a Great Seal for the United States in Congress Assembled. Passed June 20, 1782.” In the journals of Congress the “Remarks and explanation” are left out, but they constitute an essential part of the fundamental law as Congress adopted it.

The different features of the seal had all been in common use in America. In the North Carolina paper currency of 1775 appears a bundle of thirteen arrows; in the Maryland currency of the same year a hand grasping an olive branch with thirteen leaves; on a fifty-dollar bill issued in 1778 is an unfinished pyramid, with the motto “Perennis;” in the Massachusetts copper penny of 1776 are thirteen stars, surrounding an _eagle_; the flag had the thirteen stripes, and so had the seal of the Board of Admiralty, adopted May 4, 1780.

Soon after the seal was adopted the obverse was cut in brass; but the identity of the engraver is unknown. It was intended to be impressed in wax over a paper wafer, and is found on a commission dated September 16, 1782, granting full power and authority to General Washington to arrange with the British for exchange of prisoners of war. The commission is signed by John Hanson, President of Congress, and countersigned by Charles Thomson, Secretary, the seal being affixed in the upper left-hand corner, instead of the lower left-hand corner as is now the custom. This, the first great seal to be made, continued in use for fifty-nine years, and having been cut almost as soon as the design was adopted may fairly be assumed to represent correctly the intentions of the makers of the seal.

The second or Lovell committee recommended a “less seal of the United States” of the same design as the great seal but of smaller diameter, but no other committee took cognizance of the custom which still prevails in many countries of having two principal seals of state. The idea had not, however, wholly disappeared when the Constitution was adopted, for in the first Congress John Vining of Delaware proposed (June, 1789) that a Home Department be provided for and that the Secretary be required to “keep the great seal, and affix the same to all public papers, when it is necessary; to keep the lesser seal, and affix it to commissions &c.”

In the debate which preceded the defeat of the bill, Alexander White of Virginia said the great seal might be kept by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the lesser seal also.[29] No direct proposition was made, however, to create a lesser seal.

When the Congress under the Articles of Confederation ceased to exist and the new Government went into operation Charles Thomson continued in charge of the great seal and of the records of the old Government, until provision for their custody should be made. On July 24, 1789, Washington as President wrote to him:

You will be pleased, Sir, to deliver the Books, Records and Papers of
the late Congress—the Great Seal of the federal Union—and the Seal of
the Admiralty, to Mr. Roger Alden, the late Deputy Secretary of
Congress, who is requested to take charge of them until further
directions shall be given.

Thus terminated Thomson’s connection with the seal which he had done so much to design and have adopted. Alden afterwards described his own appointment as that of keeper of the seals and papers of the old Congress.

On June 27 the bill creating the Department of Foreign Affairs became a law, this being the first executive department provided for under the Constitution, but the Secretary was not made the keeper of the seal and it remained in Alden’s hands until the Department of State was created. The act creating this Department was entitled, “An act to provide for the safe keeping of the acts, records, and seal of the United States and for other purposes.” It enlarged the Department of Foreign Affairs into the Department of State, and named as the principal officer the Secretary of State. The third section of the act read:

_And be it further enacted_, That the seal heretofore used by the
United States in Congress assembled, shall be, and hereby is declared
to be, the Seal of the United States.

The fourth section read:

That the said secretary shall keep the said seal, and shall make out
and record, and shall affix the said seal to all civil commissions to
officers of the United States to be appointed by the president, by and
with the advice and consent of the senate, or by the president alone.
Provided, That the said seal shall not be affixed to any commission,
before the same shall have been signed by the president of the United
States, nor to any other instrument or act, without the special
warrant of the president therefor.

It will be observed that the act described the “Seal of the United States” and not the “Great Seal of the United States,” although in all the preliminary reports and in the adopting act the term “Great Seal” was used. As no lesser seal of state was contemplated there was really no object in designating the only seal as the “Great Seal,” although for ordinary purposes it has never ceased to be called the “Great Seal,” and is so denominated in the decision of the Supreme Court where its uses are set forth. Before the seal was adopted the commissions of Congress read simply “By order of Congress,” being signed by the President. The countersigning was, “Attest Charles Thomson, Secretary.” When the seal came into use the form was, as it appears on Washington’s commission to exchange prisoners: “In testimony whereof we have caused these Letters to be made patent and the Great Seal of the United States of America to be thereunto affixed. Witness His Excellency John Hanson President of the United States in Congress assembled the Sixteenth day of September and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty two, and of our Sovereignty & Independence the seventh.” After the adoption of the Constitution and before any custodian of the seal was provided by Congress, the wording ran: “In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and the Seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand the —— day of —— in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine,” this being signed by the President and not countersigned. This form continued in use after the Secretary of State became by law the keeper of the seal, and was not changed till August 3, 1790, when the recital was made to include the year of independence and was countersigned by Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. Thus, singularly enough, the abandonment of the term “Great Seal of the United States” began with the Executive some months before it received legal sanction.