The Great Seal of the United States
What does it symbolize ?
Our founding fathers felt it important to express the basic truths of our nation on our national seal. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams were on the committee that designed the Great Seal of the United States.
Looking at our Great Seal of the United States, we see the face of the American Bald Eagle. The face of the eagle stands for strength and sovereignty. On the eagle's breast is a shield with a blue bar on top. This bar symbolizes Congress which bounds all the states together. The blue in the bar speaks of justice and perseverance. The 13 stripes are red and white. Red stands for valor and white for purity. Each stripe represents a state which tells us that each state is responsible to help protect the freedom of all the states.
The head of the eagle significantly represents the executive branch of government. The judiciary branch is represented by the nine tail feathers. The shield represents the legislative branch. Thus, we can see that the three branches of our government are shown on the face of our great seal.
The ribbon in the beak of the eagle flutters from east to west with the words "e Pluribus Unium" which means "Out of many, One". The head of the eagle is turned to the right (or the west). The right talon (claw) of the eagle holds an olive branch which has 13 leaves. The olive branch is Israel's symbol for peace. So the eagle's head is looking toward peace. But something far different is held in the other claw. It holds a bundle of 13 arrows showing our power in war. Our nation does not want war but should be ready to stand against all foes that oppose us. Our nation wants peace, that is why the eagle is holdiig the olive branch but it is equally balanced with the arrows ready to stand for truth and justice, even if it means by war.
Above all, there is a glory ring of light shining in gold. It surrounds a constellation of 13 stars of silver which are on a blue field. The stars stand for the 13 original states and shows the beginning of a new nation under God, signified by the light of gold. This great seal of ours places the spiritual warfare of our nation above the material. In other words, when this seal was designed by our forefathers, it was designed to carefully show that we are a nation "under God".