A description of the Great Seal of the United States was approved by Congress in June of 1782, nearly six years after the Contin
ental Congress first appointed a committee to “bring in a device for a seal of the United States of America.” By 1786, the description of the seal, designed by William Barton, finally evolved into a first drawing, which depicts an American bald eagle holding in its talons arrows of war and an olive branch of peace. According to this passage, the Great Seal of the United States was first designed by
