What is on the Great Seal?
Answer
An eagle with an olive branch and arrows
Explanation
The Great Seal of the United States shows an American bald eagle with wings outstretched, holding an olive branch in its right talon and 13 arrows in its left. The olive branch carries 13 olives and 13 leaves, and the cluster of arrows numbers 13. A heraldic shield with 13 red and white vertical stripes (representing the original colonies) topped by a blue chief (representing Congress and the federal government uniting them) covers the eagle's chest. A scroll in the eagle's beak reads E Pluribus Unum, Latin for Out of many, one. Above the eagle's head, a crest of clouds parts to reveal a glory of 13 five-pointed stars on an azure (blue) field, described in the official 1782 blazon as a new constellation. The eagle's head is turned toward the olive branch, signifying that the country prefers peace but is prepared for war.
The reverse of the Seal (which is rarely used and appears on the back of the one-dollar bill on the left-hand side) shows an unfinished thirteen-step pyramid with the date MDCCLXXVI (1776) at its base, capped by an unfinished triangular Eye of Providence emerging from a glory. Two mottos accompany the reverse: Annuit Coeptis (He has favored our undertakings) above the eye and Novus Ordo Seclorum (A new order of the ages) below the pyramid.
The number 13 recurs throughout the design (13 stripes, 13 stars, 13 olive leaves, 13 olives, 13 arrows, 13 letters in E Pluribus Unum, 13 letters in Annuit Coeptis, and 13 courses of the pyramid) to honor the 13 original colonies that declared independence in 1776. The Continental Congress approved the design on June 20, 1782 after a six-year drafting process led by three successive committees, with the final design prepared by Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, drawing on ideas submitted by William Barton.
The Seal is impressed on certain federal documents (treaties, ambassadorial commissions, ratifications, and presidential proclamations) by the Secretary of State under 4 U.S.C. section 41. The eagle and shield design has been carried over to the Presidential Seal, the Vice President's seal, and the seals of the executive departments, with variations on the surrounding elements. The Department of State currently uses the seventh die of the obverse, cut in 1986 and kept in a glass case at the Harry S. Truman Building in Washington.
Why this matters for your test
Identifying what is on the Great Seal helps applicants read the visual vocabulary of American government. The eagle, olive branch, arrows, motto, and number 13 recur on coins, official documents, presidential papers, and federal buildings, and recognizing them is a basic civics literacy.
Source: USCIS 128 Civics Questions (2025)
