Episode 6 of 6

First Use of the Seal

When: September 16, 1782
Where: United States federal government
Part of: Adoption of the Great Seal of the United States

Charles Thomson first used the seal on September 16, 1782, to verify signatures authorizing a prisoner exchange negotiation.

The seal was first used by Charles Thomson on September 16, 1782, to verify signatures on a document that authorized George Washington to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. None of the press mechanisms used from 1782 through 1904 have survived.

Sources

Great Seal of the United States Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.