Episode 5 of 6
Adoption of the Great Seal
- When
- June 20, 1782
- Where
- Continental Congress
The design was submitted to Congress on June 20, 1782, and accepted the same day, depicting a bald eagle with thirteen arrows and an olive branch.
The final design was submitted to Congress on June 20, 1782, and was accepted the same day. The obverse depicts a bald eagle grasping thirteen arrows and an olive branch with thirteen leaves in its talons, establishing the bald eagle as the national symbol appearing on the seal. The 1782 resolution adopting the arms remains legally in force.
Sources
- Great Seal of the United States Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
- Bald eagle Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
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.