CONTENTS

Page.
Letter of Transmittal[5]
I.The First Device[7]
II.The Lovell Committee[18]
III.William Barton’s Designs[23]
IV.The Secretary’s Device[33]
V.The Arms Adopted[41]
VI.The Illegal Seal[48]
VII.The Third Seal[53]
VIII.The Fourth Seal[63]
IX.Uses of the Seal[65]
Glossary of Heraldic Terms[69]
Index[71]

To the Honorable Philander C. Knox,

Secretary of State.

Sir: In 1892, when I was serving in your Department, by direction of Secretary James G. Blaine I prepared an historical sketch of the seal of the United States, entitled “The Seal of the United States: How It was Developed and Adopted,” which the Department printed. It was prepared in a given time and was meager; and since it appeared I have gathered additional information concerning the history of the seal, which I now have the honor to offer the Department, the edition of the monograph of 1892 being exhausted.

In 1897 Mr. Charles A. L. Totten published his two-volume work in New Haven, “Our Inheritance in the Great Seal of Manasseh, the United States of America: Its History and Heraldry; and Its Signification unto the ‘Great People’ thus Sealed;” and I take pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to Mr. Totten’s book for much valuable information concerning the seal.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Gaillard Hunt,

Chief, Division of Manuscripts.

Library of Congress,

April 30, 1909.

THE SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES

I
THE FIRST DEVICE

Late in the afternoon of July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress “Resolved, That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson be a committee to prepare a device for a Seal of the United States of America,”[[1]] this being the same committee, except for the omission from it of Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman, which had drawn up the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration had been signed about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and the members of the Congress assembling after dinner[[2]] desired to complete the evidences of the independence of the United States by formally adopting an official sign of sovereignty and a national coat of arms. It was intended that the device for the seal should be the device for the national arms, and the first and each succeeding committee having the business in charge construed its duty to be to devise the arms by devising the seal. In making the two identical the prevailing custom was observed, for seals are deemed proof of the coats of arms of the states or individuals using them. The great seal of France at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed contained as the obverse the arms of France, and upon the silver box containing the great seal of England when it was attached to a treaty was engraved the arms of England.[[3]] The great seal of England was itself, however, an exception to the general rule, as it did not at that time, nor for many years later, contain the arms of the Kingdom; but on the obverse the figure of the King on horseback and on the reverse of the King seated on the throne.[[4]]

The committee to design the arms of the new nation had no national precedent to follow, for the arms of a kingdom are nearly always those of the sovereign or his family, and the new Republic could accept no individual’s arms. The several colonies, however, each had a seal, and these, as they were generally significant and simple, would have been a fair guide to the exigencies of a national seal. The members of the committee, however, had an idea that an allegorical picture significant of the fortunes and destiny of the United States would be more appropriate; but as none of them could draw they called into consultation Eugène Pierre Du Simitière, a West Indian Frenchman who lived in Philadelphia and had a reputation as an artist and author. John Adams, in a letter to his wife, August 14, 1776, told the story of the committee’s efforts to make the seal:

[Du Simitière is] a painter by profession, whose designs are very ingenious, and his drawings well executed. He has been applied to for his advice. I waited on him yesterday, and saw his sketches. * * * For the seal he proposes the arms of the several nations from whence America has been peopled, as English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch, German, etc., each in a shield. On one side of them, Liberty with her pileus, on the other, a rifler in his uniform, with his rifle-gun in one hand and his tomahawk in the other; this dress and these troops with this kind of armor being peculiar to America, unless the dress was known to the Romans. * * * Dr. F. proposes a device for a seal: Moses lifting up his wand and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh in his chariot overwhelmed with the waters. This motto, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”

Mr. Jefferson proposed the children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; on the other side, Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have assumed. I proposed the choice of Hercules, as engraved by Gribelin, in some editions of Lord Shaftesbury’s works. The hero resting on his club. Virtue pointing to her rugged mountain on one hand, and persuading him to ascend. Sloth, glancing at her flowery paths of pleasure, wantonly reclining on the ground, displaying the charms both of her eloquence and person, to seduce him into vice. But this is too complicated a group for a seal or a medal, and it is not original.[[5]]

Adams’s statement is corroborated by the notes preserved by Jefferson and now among his papers in the Library of Congress. Franklin’s note reads:

Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his Hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharoah who is sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his Head and a Sword in his Hand. Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses to express that he acts by Command of the Deity.

Motto, Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.

Jefferson’s note says:

Pharoah sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in his hand passing thro’ 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 command, reaching to Moses who stands on the shore and, extending his hand over the sea, causes it to over whelm Pharoah.

Motto Rebellion to tyrants is obedce. to god.[[6]]

Adams’s own design was, as he says, that of the engraving by Gribelin, Paulo de Mathæis, artist, which appeared as frontispiece to the Earl of Shaftesbury’s Treatise VII, Vol. III, edition of 1773, on the Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times.[[7]] It is a fine allegorical picture and Adams gives a good description of it in his letter, but it is wholly unsuited to a coat of arms. In this respect, however, the pictures suggested by Franklin and Jefferson were no better. In Du Simitière’s final design, which was the best of the four, the Goddess of Justice was substituted for the American rifleman as the sinister supporter, and Franklin’s suggestion was accepted for the reverse.

The committee reported August 20:[[8]]

The great Seal should on one side have the Arms of the United States of America which arms should be as follows: The Shield has six Quarters,[[9]] parti one, coupé two. The 1st. Or, a Rose enamelled gules & argent for England: the 2d. Argent, a Thistle proper for Scotland: the 3d. Verd, a Harp Or, for Ireland: the 4th. Azure a Flower de Luce Or for France: the 5th. Or the Imperial Eagle Sable for Germany: and the 6th. Or the Belgic Lion Gules for Holland, pointing out the Countries from which these States have been peopled. The Shield within a Border Gules entoire of thirteen Scutcheons Argent linked together by a Chain Or, each charged with initial Letters Sable as follows: 1st. N. H. 2d. M. B. 3d. R. I. 4th. C. 5th. N. Y. 6th. N. J. 7th. P. 8th. D. C.[[10]] 9th. M. 10th. V. 11th. N. C. 12th. S. C. 13th. G. for each of the thirteen independent States of America.

Supporters, dexter the Goddess Liberty in a corselet of armour alluding to the present Times, holding in her right Hand the Spear and Cap and with her left supporting the Shield of the States; sinister, the Goddess Justice bearing a Sword in her right hand, and in her left a Balance.

Crest The Eye of Providence in a radiant Triangle whose Glory extends over the Shield and beyond the Figures.

Motto E Pluribus Unum.

Legend, round the whole atchievement. Seal of the United States of America MDCCLXXVI.

On the other side of the said Great Seal should be the following Device. Pharaoh 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 Command, beaming on Moses who stands on the Shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to overwhelm Pharaoh.

Motto Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.[[11]]

This is endorsed, “Copy of a Report made Aug. 10, 1776,” and is in the handwriting of no member of the committee, but of James Lovell.

The description of the arms by Du Simitière is among the Jefferson Papers in the Library of Congress, and shows a design identical with that approved by the committee, except as to the supporters, Du Simitière’s description being:

Supporters, dexter, the Goddess Liberty, in a corslet of armour, (alluding to the present times) holding in her right hand the Spear and Cap, resting with her left on an anchor, emblem of Hope. Senester, an american Soldier, compleatly accoutred in his hunting shirt and trousers, with his tomahawk, powder horn, pouch &c. holding with his left hand his rifle gun rested, and the Shield of the States with his right.

Reverse
[Drawing by Benson J. Lossing from the description]

Obverse
[The pencil sketch by Du Simitière, found in the Jefferson Papers]
THE FIRST DESIGN
Face p. [12]

A note following the report says: “The figure of Liberty standing on a Column, on which are the emblems of commerce, agriculture and arms.”

Two features alone of the designs of this committee were preserved in the final seal, the eye of Providence, which figured in the final reverse, and the motto “E pluribus unum,” which appeared in the final obverse. The eye was an adoption of a very ancient symbol of the overseeing God. It was probably suggested by Du Simitière himself, since Adams does not mention it as having been proposed by any member of the committee.

The motto formed a part of Du Simitière’s design, but has been generally attributed to Jefferson.[[12]] Adams’s letter shows nothing to suggest the possibility that he himself chose the motto; on the contrary, his mind was full of a moral rather than a political allegory for the arms. Jefferson’s mind had, on the other hand, already been engaged on the subject of a suitable device for a seal to express the idea of weakness in separation of the States and power in their combination. In 1774 he made this note in his almanac:

A proper device (instead of arms) for the American states united would be the Father presenting the bundle of rods to his sons.

The motto “Insuperabiles si inseperabiles” an answer given in parl[iament] to the H[ouse] of Lds, & comm[ons].[[13]]

Jefferson’s preference for a “device” rather than a coat of arms was due to the fact that he thought more allegorical meaning could be obtained by using the former. The idea he wished to convey was from one of Æsop’s fables. A father called his family of discordant sons about him, and taking a bundle of rods bound compactly together bade each one try to break it, which none could do. He then gave each one a single rod from the bundle and they were broken easily.

The motto “E pluribus unum”[[14]] was in familiar use in the United States and naturally suggested itself as a fitting description of the union of the States depicted in Du Simitière’s design.

Franklin suggested the motto “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” which, as we have seen, was incorporated in the proposed reverse of the seal. It so much pleased Jefferson that he took it as his own motto, and had it cut upon his private seal. It was current in the colonies as part of a fictitious epitaph over the body of John Bradshaw, president of the court which condemned Charles I to death.

Thomas Hollis, of England, born in London in 1720, and one of the early patrons of Harvard College, in his memoirs, states:[[15]]

The following Epitaph is often seen pasted up in the houses in North America. It throws some light upon the principles of the people, and may in some measure account for the asperity of the war carrying on against them. The original is engraved upon a cannon at the summit of a steep hill near Martha Bray [Bay] in Jamaica:

STRANGER

Ere thou pass, contemplate this cannon,

Nor regardless be told

That near its base lies deposited the dust

Of John Bradshaw;

Who, nobly superior to selfish regards,

Despising alike the pageantry of courtly splendor,

The blast of calumny,

And the terrors of royal vengeance,

Presided in the illustrious band of Heroes and Patriots,

Who fairly and openly adjudged

CHARLES STUARD

Tyrant of England

To a public and exemplary death;

Thereby presenting to the amazed world,

And transmitting down through applauding ages,

The most glorious example

Of unshaken virtue,

Love of Freedom,

And impartial justice,

Ever exhibited on the blood-stained theater

Of human actions.

Oh, Reader,

Pass not on, till thou hast blest his memory!

And never, never forget,

That REBELLION TO TYRANTS

IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD.

A copy of this supposititious epitaph, in Jefferson’s handwriting, was given to his young friend, De Lyon, one of the Frenchmen who was with Lafayette on his tour of America in 1824. The manuscript was dated 1776, and stated that the inscription had been found three years earlier on the cannon at Martha Bay, Jamaica. A note, evidently by Mr. Jefferson himself, his biographer states, says:

From many circumstances there is reason to believe there does not exist any such inscription as the above, and that it was written by Dr. Franklin, in whose hands it was first seen.[[16]]

Although Du Simitière, as it would appear from John Adams’s letter, drew his designs for the committee, they were not preserved among the papers of Congress, a very slight pencil sketch of his proposed obverse found among Jefferson’s papers being all that remains. The committee’s report was laid upon the table, and for nearly four years the United States existed without a coat of arms and Congress did business without an official seal.

II
THE LOVELL COMMITTEE

On June 14, 1777, Congress adopted the national flag of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars upon a blue field, “representing,” as the law said, “a new constellation.” The flag had actually come into use in the army some months before it received legal sanction, its chief features probably suggested by the Dutch standard. The red denoted daring, the white purity, and the stars the States in union.[[17]]

Reverse

Arms
DESIGNS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE
[Reduced one-half]
Face p. [19]

The American minister to France, Silas Deane, complained of the informality and impropriety of the representatives of the sovereignty of a nation being without a seal with which to authenticate their official acts, but the subject was treated with indifference. On January 23, 1777, a committee appointed to examine the files of Congress, William Ellery of Rhode Island, chairman, selected certain papers which it thought required the consideration of Congress—among them the “Report on a Device for a public seal”[[18]]—but it was not until March 25, 1780, that the report was taken up again, when James Lovell of Massachusetts, John Morin Scott of Virginia, and William Churchill Houston of New Jersey were appointed a committee to report a design for a great seal, and to them was referred the report of the first committee. The chairman of the committee and the most important member was Lovell. He was a Boston school-teacher and a graduate of Harvard College. Being imprisoned by the British after the battle of Bunker Hill, he was later exchanged and entered Congress in December, 1776, where he served till 1782, being for a long time on the Committee of Foreign Affairs. While serving on this committee he must have received Deane’s complaint that Congress had no seal. Lovell was regarded as a man of great learning, but was extremely eccentric in his manners and speech.[[19]] The committee reported May 10:

The Com̃ittee to whom was referred on the 25th of March last the report of a former Com̃ittee on the Device of a Great Seal for the United States in Congress assembled, beg Leave to report the following Description.

The Seal to be 3 Inches in Diametre

On one Side the Arms of the United States, as follows; The Shield charged on the Field Azure with 13 diagonal Stripes alternate rouge and argent—Supporters; dexter, a warriour holding a Sword; sinister, a Figure, representing Peace bearing an Olive Branch—The Crest—a radiant constellation of 13 Stars—The motto Bello vel Paci; The Legend round the Atchievement—The great Seal of the United States of America

On the reverse, The Figure of Liberty seated in a Chair holding the Staff and Cap—The motto virtute perennis—underneath, MDCCLXXVI.

A Drawing of the Seal is annexed—

May 10th 1780—

A Miniature of the Face of the great Seal to be prepared of Half the Diametre, to be affixed as the less Seal of the United States.

The report is endorsed, “Report of the Comeee. on the device of a great Seal—Delivered May 10, 1780 read—May 17, 1780 Recommitted. N. B. The within report has been altered since the Recommitment of May 17, 1780,” the endorsement being in the handwriting of Charles Thomson, the Secretary of Congress, except the note, which is in the same hand as the report, apparently,[[20]] that of Houston; but the motto virtute perennis in the report is in Thomson’s hand. The committee submitted designs of both obverse and reverse. The more finished of those for an obverse has the stripes alternate white and red, whereas the report called for red and white. A second and rougher design shows a slightly different arrangement of the constellation, a helmet as a crest, which is struck out as unsatisfactory, and a shield with alternate red and white stripes. For dexter supporter there is a naked Indian carrying in his right hand a bow and arrow.

Two drawings were made for the reverse, the differences between them not being great. In one the figure carries in her left hand a sword instead of an olive branch, and at the bottom is the date MDCCLXXX, while at the top the motto, “Aut haec aut nullus,” has a line drawn through it; another has over the top outside the circle the words “Libertas virtute perennis,” a line having been drawn through the word “Libertas;” within the circle is the word Semper struck out and the date is MDCCLXXVI. Underneath is this fragment of a note: “a rough Sketch of the Design & Decorations by the ——.”

The report of this committee is important, because it shows for the first time the use of the constellation of thirteen stars, the shield, and the white and red and red and white stripes. The stripes and stars had undoubtedly been adopted from the flag. In these designs appears for the first time the olive branch as an emblem of peace.

III
WILLIAM BARTON’S DESIGNS

The report of the Lovell committee met with the same fate as the report of the first committee. It was recommitted, and nothing further was done until May, 1782, when Arthur Middleton of South Carolina, Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina were appointed a committee to design a seal. The two South Carolinians were men of foreign education, and a cultivated gentleman in those days usually had some knowledge of heraldry. Boudinot had an interest in coins and medals, it is presumed, as he was appointed Director of the Mint at Philadelphia in 1795. This committee did no independent labor of a serious character, but called into consultation William Barton, A. M., a private citizen of Philadelphia. He was the son of Rev. Thomas Barton, rector of St. James Episcopal Church, his mother being a sister of the famous David Rittenhouse,[[21]] and in 1813 he published a memoir of Rittenhouse. He was also the author of a monograph on the nature and use of Paper Credit, etc. (Philadelphia, 1781). The reasons which prompted the committee to go to him are not known. It is evident, however, that he had studied heraldry, and his drawings show that he was ingenious in the use of his pencil. From the time he first appears in connection with the seal he is the central figure, until he divides the honors with the Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson.

Rutledge’s connection with the committee was never active, and Arthur Lee, who had recently returned from France, acted with it, although never formally assigned as a member.

Barton’s first design for the seal was as follows:

A Device for an Armorial Atchievement, for the Great Seal of the United States of America, in Congress assembled; agreeable to the Rules of Heraldry:—proposed by William Barton, A. M.