August 20, 1776

The Great Seal: Moses, Hengist, Horsa, Hercules, or Aesop?

The Great Seal of the United States, which can be seen on the back of a dollar bill, includes an eagle and a pyramid. The original proposed design was very different; as shown in this note by Thomas Jefferson, it included the story of Moses parting — or rather, closing — the Red Sea, and a rather defiant motto.

One of the first things that the Continental Congress did after declaring independence was to appoint a committee to come up with a “great seal” for the United States — a design that would officially symbolize the new republic. What with everything else going on, it was August 20 before the committee reported back and presented their recommendation.

On the front of the seal, they suggested, should be a shield with symbols of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, and Holland — those being the countries where most Americans had originally come from — surrounded by the initials of the states, with the goddesses of Liberty and Justice on either side; and, at the top, “The Eye of Providence in a radiant Triangle whose Glory extends over the Shield and beyond the Figures”, with the Latin motto E pluribus unum, meaning “Out of many, one” (alluding to the fact that the separate states had joined together).

On the back would be a Biblical scene:

Pharoah sitting in an open Chariot a Crown on his head and a Sword in his hand passing through the divided Waters of the Red Sea in Pursuit of the Israelites: Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Cloud, expressive of the divine Presence and Comman[d] beaming on Moses who stands on the Shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to overwhe[lm] Pharoah.

Accompanying that scene would be the motto, “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”

This design was the work of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson (the committee), together with a Swiss-born artist named Pierre Eugène Du Simitière. The front was mostly Du Simitière’s idea, and the back was Franklin’s and Jefferson’s. But there had been a few other suggestions during their brainstorming, such as:

  • The Greek fable of Hercules choosing between Virtue and Sloth (or Pleasure). (Adams suggested this one, but he himself didn’t think it was a very good idea for a seal.)
  • A father presenting a bundle of sticks to his sons, with the Latin motto Insuperabiles si inseparabiles (“Insuperable [i.e., invincible] if inseparable”). This comes from one of Aesop’s fables, where a father tells his sons to be united, and demonstrates that it’s far harder to break a bundle of sticks than to break just one. The motto comes from a 17th-century English law scholar named Sir Edward Coke. (This was Jefferson’s idea.)
  • “The Children of Israel in the Wilderness, led by a Cloud by day, and a Pillar of Fire by night, and on the other Side Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon Chiefs, from whom We claim the Honour of being descended and whose Political Principles and Form of Government We have assumed.” (Another of Jefferson’s ideas.)

There were more important and urgent things going on, and the seal took a back seat. It was almost six years before the Congress finally decided on a design for the seal, and the only things it really had in common with the original recommendation were the Latin motto and the Eye of Providence, as you can see on the back of a dollar bill.

Although our current seal has plenty of symbolism, it would be better if someone didn’t have to explain it to me in order for me to get the meaning. Be that as it may, I think that the ideas of the original committee had good lessons for us and would have served as good reminders of what our republic is, how it came to be, and what we must do to keep it. Those things are worth remembering. (Personally, I favor the bundle of sticks at the moment.)

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