Marvin Finley, age 15, of Barre, Vt., for his question:
WHO DESIGNED THE U.S. GREAT SEAL?
The Great Seal of the United States is the official seal of the U.S. Government. The design was first commissioned by the Continental Congress immediately after the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The design committee consisted of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
The Continental Congress deemed the Franklin Adams Jefferson design unacceptable. It also rejected two more designs by succeeding committees.
In 1782 all of the designs were turned over to Charles Thompson, the secretary to the Congress. He prepared a design which, with some alterations, was finally adopted by the Congress on June 20, 1782.
The Great Seal of the United States is two sided, having both an obverse and a reverse. Observe is a word that indicates the side of a metal that bears the principal design. The obverse has been cut as a die and its impression is affixed to all civil commissions. This is in accordance to an order issued in 1789, entrusting the seal to the secretary of state.
The seal imprint now appears on a wide variety of documents, including presidential proclamations, instruments of ratification of treaties and the commissions of cabinet officers.
Dominant figure on the obverse of the seal is an American eagle, shown with wings spread. On the eagle's breast is a shield having 13 narrow vertical stripes seven white alternating with six red, which are surmounted by a horizontal stripe of blue.
The eagle holds an olive branch in its right talon, a cluster of 13 arrows in its left and in its beak a scroll on which appears the Latin motto "E pluribus unum" ("From many, one,"). A cluster of 13 five pointed stars, surrounded by a glory, appears above the eagle.
The design on the reverse has been copied and appears on the U.S. one dollar bill. A pyramid, truncated near the top, is the central figure on the reverse side.
At the base of the pyramid is inscribed the date 1776 in Roman numerals: MDCCLXXVI.
At the zenith of the pyramid, within a triangle, appears the all seeing eye of Divine Providence. Above the eye is inscribed the motto "Annuit coeptis" ("He has smiled on our undertakings").
Below the pyramid is a scroll bearing the motto "Novus ordo seclorum ("New order of the ages").
The seal used by the president of the U.S. is in most respects similar to the Great Seal, but differs from it in the border inscription: "The Seal of the President of the United States."
Each state of the U.S. has a seal of its own.