Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com
Speaker 1: where smart Happens. Hi am our Braining with today's question,
Speaker 1: what do the symbols on the back of the US
Speaker 1: one dollar bill mean? Pull out a one dollar bill
Speaker 1: from your wallet and take a good look at the
Speaker 1: back of it. The Great Seal of the United States
Speaker 1: appears on the back side of the United States one
Speaker 1: dollar bill. The reverse of the seal appears on the left,
Speaker 1: and the obverse side of the seal appears on the right. First,
Speaker 1: a little background on this seal. The Continental Congress decided
Speaker 1: to create a national seal or emblem on July four,
Speaker 1: seventy six, the same day that the Congress adopted the
Speaker 1: Declaration of Independence. The Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,
Speaker 1: and John Adams to a committee to come up with
Speaker 1: a national seal. It took six years, three committees, several
Speaker 1: artistic contributions, and many revisions before the final seal was
Speaker 1: adopted on June twenty two. The unfinished pyramid and the
Speaker 1: eye and a triangle on the reverse side are classic symbols.
Speaker 1: The Egyptian pyramid is a symbol of strength and duration.
Speaker 1: The thirteen steps indicate the original number of US states,
Speaker 1: and the thirteen steps leading to an unfinished summit indicates
Speaker 1: future growth of the nation. The eye is known as
Speaker 1: the Eye of Providence and is surrounded by rays of light.
Speaker 1: The single eye shows up in Egyptian mythology is the
Speaker 1: eye of Horace, an ancient god of the Egyptians. The
Speaker 1: eye represented wisdom, health, and prosperity. Some people think that
Speaker 1: the all seeing eye is a symbol of freemasonry, a
Speaker 1: fraternal organization. Here are the other symbols on the Great Seal.
Speaker 1: If you look at your dollar bill, you can follow
Speaker 1: along two. Secretary of Congress Charles Thompson adopted the bald
Speaker 1: eagle as the prominent feature of the design. The shield
Speaker 1: is shown on the breast of the eagle without any support,
Speaker 1: indicating the self reliance of the United States. Thirteen stripes
Speaker 1: appear on the shield, signifying the thirteen original states. These
Speaker 1: stripes support and unite with the top band, which represents Congress.
Speaker 1: The eagles talents hold thirteen arrows in the right and
Speaker 1: an olive branch in the left. These symbolize the power
Speaker 1: of war and peace, respectively. The number of arrows represents
Speaker 1: the thirteen original states. As well. The constellation of thirteen
Speaker 1: stars above the eagle's head signifies the United States rank
Speaker 1: among other sovereign powers. The motto e plurbus unam, written
Speaker 1: on the banner held in the eagle's beak, is Latin
Speaker 1: meeting out of many one, conveying the union of the States.
Speaker 1: On the reverse side the unfinished pyramid, then the eye
Speaker 1: and the triangle. Above the pyramid, the Roman numerals M, D, C, C,
Speaker 1: L x x v I appear on the base of
Speaker 1: the pyramid and translates to seventeen seventy six, the year
Speaker 1: of independence. Above the eye are the Latin words annuit capitus.
Speaker 1: This translates to he has favored our undertakings. This line
Speaker 1: is associated with the eye of Providence. Below the pyramid
Speaker 1: are the Latin words novis ordos sec laura, meaning a
Speaker 1: new order of the ages, referring to the birth of
Speaker 1: the United States in seventeen seventy six. In nineteen thirty five,
Speaker 1: the Department of Treasury proposed the use of the obverse
Speaker 1: and reverse sides of the Great Seal on the back
Speaker 1: of a one dollar bill, originally with the obverse on
Speaker 1: the left side and the reverse on the right before
Speaker 1: approving the design, President Franklin Roosevelt decided to switch the
Speaker 1: order of the sides of the seal and then added
Speaker 1: the Great Seal under the reverse and end of the
Speaker 1: United States under the obverse. So the next time you
Speaker 1: look at a one dollar bill, you'll know what's going
Speaker 1: on with all that strange symbology. Be sure to check
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