What is E Pluribus Unum?

E Pluribus Unum is a Latin phrase meaning Out of many, one. It is the de facto motto of the United States from the founding period until Congress designated In God We Trust as the official national motto on July 30, 1956. The phrase appears on the Great Seal of the United States in a banner held in the eagle's beak, where it has been since the Continental Congress approved the seal's design on June 20, 1782.

The phrase has 13 letters, matching the original 13 colonies, and its meaning describes the formation of one nation from many separate colonies (and later many separate states and many separate peoples). Its origin is classical: a similar phrase appears in the Moretum, a Latin poem traditionally attributed to Virgil, where it describes how various ingredients are blended into a single dish. The phrase was already familiar in eighteenth-century European intellectual life and appeared on the masthead of Gentleman's Magazine in London from 1731.

Pierre-Eugène du Simitière, the Swiss-born artist who served on the first committee of the Continental Congress that worked on the Great Seal in 1776, is credited with proposing the phrase for the American Seal. It was retained through the second and third design committees and finalized by Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, in his June 20, 1782 report.

E Pluribus Unum has appeared on most U.S. coins since the late eighteenth century: it was first used on a U.S. coin (the half eagle gold coin) in 1795, became standard on coins in the nineteenth century, was made mandatory on coins by Public Law 84-140 in 1955, and now appears on the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar coin. It also appears on the Presidential Seal, on the seals of several executive departments, on the Vice President's seal, on the Speaker of the House's chamber, and on the obverse of the dollar bill.

Although In God We Trust is now the official national motto, E Pluribus Unum remains in active and visible use and is often described in civics curricula as a national motto in the broader sense, recognizing the country's continuing concern with unity across regional, ethnic, religious, and linguistic differences.