WASHINGTON - Conspiracy theorists take note: The myths surrounding one of America's oldest and most enduring national symbols are about to be debunked ... if you believe the government, that is.

The keepers of the Great Seal of the United States, the familiar emblem on the back of the $1 bill, want you to know what it is not. It is not a sign that Freemasons run the country, it has nothing to do with the occult, and it does not contain clues to a fabulous hidden treasure.

It is rather the nation's stamp of authority, sovereignty and power, gracing our cash and embossing the most important of documents from its home at the State Department, which has held it since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the first secretary of state.

"This exhibit honoring the Great Seal affirms our continued belief in the values of our founding," she said. "The Great Seal symbolizes the unity, strength and independence of a new nation, the United States of America."

The Seal will remain at the State Department but the interactive exhibit is designed to travel and curators hope it will dispel the rumors and educate Americans about the real meaning of the symbols.

Among the highlights:

_That known Masons like the first U.S. president, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin had no role in designing the final seal, which uses elements of traditional heraldry, such as the unfinished pyramid to symbolize a work in progress, arrows for war and an olive branch for peace. Masons share some of those symbols, but they have never been exclusively the domain of the order.

_That the phrase "Novus Ordo Seculorum" below the Roman numerals for 1776 at the base of the pyramid translates as "A New Order of the Ages" that began with independence and does not imply the United States will be the lynchpin of a sinister "New World Order."

_That the words "Annuit Coeptis" ("Providence favors") and the eye of providence that hovers over the pyramid refer to unexpected interventions of fate that assisted the colonists in creating a new country.

_That the references to 13 refer to the number of colonies that formed the original United States.

"People are just not aware of the complexity and intent of the symbolism and what our Founding Fathers were trying to do with it," said Priscilla Linn, senior curator at the U.S. Diplomacy Center. "The hidden treasure in the Seal is the courage and presence of mind of the people who created it and created these values for the whole country."


Great Seal secrets revealed! - Yahoo! News

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Interesting. I would like to visit this exibit if it comes to this area.

GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES

This article is reprinted from John G. Wells 1857 publication Every Man His Own Lawyer.

The Great Seal of the United States is one of peculiar interest, and therefore we feel warranted in giving more details of its design and history than can be allotted to the Seals of the several states. Soon after the declaration of independence, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were appointed a committee to prepare a great seal for the infant republic; and they employed a French West Indian, named DuSimitiere, not only to furnish designs, but also to sketch such devices as were suggested by themselves. In one of his designs the artist displayed on a shield the armorial ensigns of the several nations from whence America had been peopled -- embracing those of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, and Holland. On one side was placed Liberty with her cap, and on the other was a rifleman in uniform, with his rifle in one hand and a tomahawk in the other -- the dress and weapons being peculiar to America.

Franklin proposed, for the device, Moses lifting his wand, and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh and his hosts overwhelmed with the waters. For a motto, the words of Cromwell, "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."

Adams proposed the Choice of Hercules; the hero resting on a club, Virtue pointing to her rugged mountain on one hand, and persuading him to ascend; and 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.

Jefferson proposed the Children of Israel in the Wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; and, on the reverse, Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chief, from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have assumed.

Franklin and Adams then requested Jefferson to combine their ideas in a compact description of the proposed great seal, which he did, and that paper, in his handwriting, is now in the office of the Secretary of State at Washington. This design consisted of a shield with six quarterings, parti one, coupi two, in heraldic phrase. The first gold, and an enameled rose, red and white, for England; the second white, with a thistle, in its proper colors, for Scotland; the third green, with a harp of gold, for Ireland; the fourth blue, with a golden lily-flower, for France; the fifth gold, with the imperial black eagle, for Germany; and the sixth gold, with the Belgic crowned red lion, for Holland. These denoted the countries from which America had been peopled. He proposed to place the shield within a red border, on which there would be thirteen white escutcheons, linked together by a gold chain, each bearing appropriate initials, in black, of the confederated states. Supporters, the Goddess of Liberty on the right side, and a corselet of armor, in allusion to the then state of war, and holding the spear and cap in her right hand, while her left supported the shield. On the left, the Goddess of Justice, leaning on a sword in her right hand, and in her left a balance. The crest, the eye of Providence in a radiant triangle, whose glory would extend over the shield, and beyond the figures. Motto: E Pluribus Unum -- "Many in one." Around the whole, "SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, MDCCLXXVI." For the reverse, he proposed the device of 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 a 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 and his followers. Motto "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."

Jefferson's device was highly approved by his coadjutors, and the committee reported on the 10th of August, 1776; but, for some unaccountable reason, their report was neglected, not having been even placed on record; and the affair was allowed to slumber until the 24th of March, 1779, when Messrs. Lovell, of Massachusetts, Scott, of Virginia, and Houstoun, of Georgia, were appointed a committee to make another device.

On the 10th of May following they reported in favor of a seal four inches in diameter, one side of which should be composed of a shield with thirteen diagonal stripes, alternate red and white. Supporters, a warrior, holding a sword, on one side, and on the other the figure of Peace, bearing an olive branch. The crest, a radiant constellation of thirteen stars. Motto: Bello vel Pace -- "For War or Peace" -- and the legend, "Seal of the United States." On the reverse, the figure of Liberty, seated in a chair, holding the staff and cap. Motto: Semper -- "Forever" -- and underneath, MDCCLXXVI. This report was re-committed, and again submitted with some slight modifications (substituting the figure of an Indian with bow and arrows in his right hand for that of a warrior) just a year afterwards; but it was not accepted, and the matter rested until April, 1782, when Henry Middleton, Elias Boudinot, and Edward Rutledge were appointed a third committee to prepare a seal. They reported on the 9th of May following, substantially the same as the committee of 1779 and 1780; but, this not being satisfactory to Congress, on the 13th of June the whole matter was referred to Charles Thomson, its secretary.

He in turn procured several devices, among which was one by William Barton, of Philadelphia, consisting of an escutcheon, with a blue border, spangled with thirteen stars, and divided in the centre, perpendicularly, by a gold bar. On each side of this division, within the blue border, thirteen bars or stripes, alternate red and white, like the American Flag adopted on the 14th of June, 1777. Over the gold bar an eye surrounded with a glory, and in the gold bar a Doric column resting on the base of the escutcheon, having a displayed eagle on its summit. The crest, a helmet of burnished gold, damasked, grated with six bars, and surmounted by a red cap of dignity, such as dukes wear, with a black lining, and a cock armed with gaffs. Supporters, on one side the Genius of America, with loose auburn tresses, having on her head a radiant crown of gold, encircled with a sky-blue fillet, spangled with silver stars, and clothed in a long, loose, white garment, bordered with green. From the right shoulder to the left side, a blue scarf with stars, the cinctures being the same as in the border. Around her waist, a purple girdle, fringed with gold, and the word VIRTUE embroidered in white. Her interior hand rested on the escutcheon, and the other held the American standard, on the top of which a white dove was perched. The supporter on the other side was a man in complete armor; his sword-belt blue, fringed with gold; his helmet encircled with a wreath of laurel, and crested with one white and two blue plumes; his left hand supporting the escutcheon, and his right holding a lance with a bloody point. Upon an unfurled green banner was a golden harp with silver strings, a brilliant star, and two lily-flowers, with two crossed swords below. The two figures stood upon a scroll, on which was the motto Deo Favente -- "With God's Favor" -- in allusion to the eye of Providence in the arms. On the crest, in a scroll, was the motto Virtus sola Invicta -- "Virtue alone Invincible."

After vainly striving to perfect a seal which should meet the approval of Congress, Thomson finally received from John Adams, then in London, an exceedingly simple and appropriate device, suggested by Sir John Prestwich, a baronet of the West of England, who was a warm friend of America and an accomplished antiquarian. It consisted of an escutcheon bearing thirteen perpendicular stripes, white and red, with the chief blue, and spangled with thirteen stars; and, to give it greater consequence, he proposed to place it on the breast of an American eagle displayed, without supporters, as emblematic of self-reliance. It met with general approbation, in and out of Congress, and was adopted in June, 1782: so it is manifest, although the fact is not extensively known, that we are indebted for our national arms to a titled aristocrat of the country with which we were then at war. Eschewing all heraldic technicalities, it may be thus described in plain English: Thirteen perpendicular pieces, white and red; a blue field; the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed proper, holding in his right talon an olive-branch, and in his left a bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll, inscribed with the motto E Pluribus Unum. For the crest, over the head of the eagle, which appears above the escutcheon, a golden glory breaking through a cloud, proper, and surrounding thirteen stars, forming a constellation of white stars on a blue field.

Reverse. -- A Pyramid unfinished. In a zenith, an eye in a triangle, surrounded with a glory, proper. Over the eye, the words Annuit Cœptis -- "God has favored the undertaking." On the base of the pyramid, are the numeral Roman letters MDCCLXXVI.; and underneath. the motto Novus Ordo Seclorum -- "A New Series of Ages" -- denoting that a new order of things had commenced in the Western hemisphere. This, after many fruitless efforts for nearly six years, a very simple seal was adopted, and yet remains the arms of the United States.


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The History Channel had a show on this...They mentioned how Franklin DID have a few proposals, but they weren't chosen (as indago has shown)...

They explained the myths first, then destoryed them in about 20 seconds...

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