William Barton.
This, the first device of Barton, was not illustrated, and his second device, of which he offered a colored drawing, differed from it in that he transferred the eye to the reverse and the eagle from the summit of the column to the crest, thereby eliminating the cock. He put at the summit of the column a phœnix rising from the flames, left out the American flag from the dexter supporter’s hand, and changed the sinister supporter from a warrior in armor to one in continental uniform, holding in his hand a baton instead of a lance. He also left out the harp and the fleur-de-lis and transferred the motto to the reverse. The fleur-de-lis was proposed to commemorate the alliance with France, this being the only report in which the alliance figured. The design is important, because it establishes the fact that the idea had become fixed of having in the seal the thirteen stars, the blue field, and thirteen stripes of red and white or white and red. In this design appears for the first time the eagle.
Barton’s second design was addressed to “The Honble. Elias Boudinot, Esqr. & Arthur Lee Esq. In Congress.”
Device for an Armorial Atchievement & Reverse of a Great Seal, for the United States of North America: proposed by William Barton, Esqr. A. M.—
Blazoned according to the Laws of Heraldry—
Arms.
Barry of thirteen pieces, Argent & Gules; on a pale, Or, a Pillar of the Doric Order, Vert, reaching from the Base of the Escutcheon to the Honor point; and from the Summit thereof, a Phœnix in Flames with Wings expanded, proper; the whole within a Border, Azure, charged with as many Stars as pieces barways, of the first.
WILLIAM BARTON’S SECOND DESIGN
[Traced from the original and reduced one-half]
Face p. [28]