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Monday, June 20, 2016

This Date In History: The Great Seal


Have you ever wondered where the seal of the U.S. came from. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams among others asked artist Pierre Eugene du Simitiere to create a design that would be affixed to all official documents issued by the country. 
proposed seal that congress did not agree with

The three fore fathers did not agree on a design with Jefferson and Franklin requesting scenes from the bible and Adams selecting Greek myth motif. Congress agreed with none that that was designed. Congress asked Charles Thomoson to create a seal based on the elements of previous committees. June 20th, 1783 the design was approved by congress and became the Great Seal of the U.S.
Thomosons Proposal 
The seal would not be officially used until 1790. The seal would go through several more changes. James Trenchard an engraver from Philadelphia would randomly place stars on the obverse side as well as rays of glory emanation outward from the eagle. 

2 comments:

  1. History is so interesting. I didn't honestly ever think about it but now I know. Thanks for sharing this. I love learning new things.

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  2. I agree, I love history and I had heard this in the past but had forgotten about it. It's definitely a fun fact to throw around at a party.

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