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The all-seeing eye was a well-known classical symbol of the
Renaissance. The eye in a triangle design originally was suggested
by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere, and later heraldist William Barton
improved upon the design. In Du Simiti?re's original sketch, two
figures stand next to a shield with the all-seeing pyramid above
them. The August 20, 1776 report of the first Great Seal Committee
describes the seal as "Crest The Eye of Providence in a radiant
Triangle whose Glory extends over the Shield and beyond the
Figures."
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 Abstract
of all elements counting thirteen
on
The Great Seal.
In honor of the fact that there were originally thirteen
States in the Union, items consisting of this number is a
common motif in the seal. There are:
* 13 stars (in the "glory" above the eagle's head)
* 13 stripes on the shield
* 13 arrows in the eagle’s talon
* 13 letters in the mottos "e pluribus unum" and "annuit
coeptis" (apparently coincidental; there are 52 letters on
the whole seal, which is itself evenly divisible by 13)
* 13 olive leaves (by custom, not by law)
* 13 olives on the branch (by custom, not by law)
* 13 brick levels of the pyramid (by custom, not by law)
* 13 sides showing on the ribbon (by custom, not by law) |
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The Great
Seal of the United States is used to authenticate
certain documents issued by the United States
government. The phrase is used both for the physical
seal itself (which is kept by the U.S. Secretary of
State), and more generally for the design impressed upon
it. The Great Seal was publicly first used in 1782.
The design on the obverse of the great seal is the
national coat of arms of the United States and is
officially used on documents such as passports as well
as for military insignia, embassy placards, and various
flags. As a coat of arms, the design has official
colors; the physical Great Seal itself, as affixed to
paper, is monochrome.
The 1782 resolution adopting the seal describes the
image on the reverse as "A pyramid unfinished. In the
zenith an eye in a triangle, surrounded by a glory,
proper." The pyramid is conventionally shown as
consisting of thirteen layers of blocks to refer to the
thirteen original states. There are also thirteen sides
shown on the ribbon. The adopting resolution provides
that it is inscribed on its base with the date MDCCLXXVI
(1776) in Roman numerals. Where the top of the pyramid
should be, the Eye of Providence watches over it. Two
mottos appear: Annuit C?ptis signifies that the Eye of
Providence has "approved of (our) undertakings."[1]
Novus Ordo Seclorum, freely taken from Virgil, means "a
new order of the ages". It is incorrectly rendered as
"New World Order" by some theorists, and "a new secular
order" by others. The word seclorum does not mean
"secular", as one might assume, but is the genitive
(possessive) plural form of the word saeculum, meaning
(in this context) generation, century, or age. Saeculum
did come to mean "age, world" in late, Christian, Latin,
and "secular" is derived from it, through secularis.
However, the adjective "secularis," meaning
"worldly," is not equivalent to the nominative
plural possessive "seclorum," meaning "of the
ages.". The reverse has never been cut (as a
seal) but appears, for example, on the back of
the one-dollar bill.
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