Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren vog obam here. Over the years, you've probably noticed
Speaker 1: the emblem emblazoned on the side of Air Force one.
Speaker 1: It's also attached to the podium from which the U.
Speaker 1: S President gives speeches and appears on official White House
Speaker 1: stationary and invitations. A railroad locomotive painted to honor President
Speaker 1: George H. W. Bush is decorated with it. It's the
Speaker 1: Seal of the President of the United States of America.
Speaker 1: The Presidential Seal looks similar with slight differences, to the
Speaker 1: Great Seal of the United States, the official symbol that's
Speaker 1: impressed upon official documents such as treaties and commissions. The
Speaker 1: precise design of the Presidential Seal was detailed in Executive
Speaker 1: Order ninety issued in October by President Harry S. Truman.
Speaker 1: It specified that the seal depict an American eagle that's
Speaker 1: holding an olive branch and its right talent and a
Speaker 1: bundle of thirteen arrows to symbolize the original thirteen States
Speaker 1: and its left while clutching in its peak. A white
Speaker 1: scroll inscribed with the motto e pluribus unum Latin for
Speaker 1: out of many one. Behind and above the eagle, there's
Speaker 1: a background of radiating glory, a depiction of rays of light,
Speaker 1: crossed by an arc of thirteen cloud puffs, below which
Speaker 1: there's a constellation of Mullet's argent, which are five pointed
Speaker 1: compass stars. That image is surrounded by a ring of
Speaker 1: white stars symbolizing the current fifty United States, and around
Speaker 1: that another circle with the lettering seal of the President
Speaker 1: of the United States. Though the presidential seals precise origins
Speaker 1: are unclear, it was clearly inspired by the Great Seal.
Speaker 1: That national symbol was adopted by the Continental Congress in
Speaker 1: two after Secretary of the Continental Congress Charles Thompson merged
Speaker 1: ideas from several committees into a sketch that subsequently was
Speaker 1: modified by heraldist Thomas Barton. That's according to the State
Speaker 1: Departments nine six Official History of the Great Seal, written
Speaker 1: by rich As Patterson and Richardson Dougal. But at some
Speaker 1: point U S presidents decided that, like the British monarch,
Speaker 1: they needed their own personal coat of arms as well.
Speaker 1: We spoke by email with Matthew Costello, senior historian for
Speaker 1: the White House Historical Association, He said that the Great
Speaker 1: Seal quote was the official symbol of the United States
Speaker 1: federal government, not the office of the presidency. As such,
Speaker 1: some presidents simply used the Great Seal, while others thought
Speaker 1: that the president should have their own distinct seal. Costello
Speaker 1: explains at least several presidents in the eighteen hundreds created
Speaker 1: their own seals, incorporating whatever flourishes appealed to them. James K. Polk,
Speaker 1: for example, used his own seal on the proclamation of
Speaker 1: war against Mexico. In eighteen forty six. Millard Fillmore came
Speaker 1: up with his own slightly different version, which he sent
Speaker 1: to Maryland postmaster and engraver Edward Stabler to make. In
Speaker 1: eighteen fifty, Lincoln used a personalized seal as well. A
Speaker 1: presidential seal actually appear on an invitation to an event
Speaker 1: until eighteen seventy seven, according to author's Patterson and Dugal
Speaker 1: President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was hosting a dinner honoring
Speaker 1: Russian Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch, made the invites look fancier
Speaker 1: by emblazoning them with a seal that featured an arc
Speaker 1: of clouds, rays, and stars between the eagles wingtips, but
Speaker 1: the Hayes eagle was thinner and scrawnier than today's robust
Speaker 1: looking eagle, and its head was turned toward the bundle
Speaker 1: of arrows rather than toward the olive branch. In nineteen
Speaker 1: o two, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered yet another presidential seal
Speaker 1: to be installed on the floor of the White House
Speaker 1: entrance hall. He commissioned to French American sculptor Philip Martine
Speaker 1: to create a new one. Martine drew upon the Hayes design,
Speaker 1: but added a few changes, including engraving the phrase the
Speaker 1: Seal of the President of the United States in that
Speaker 1: circular border. Truman, who didn't like Martine's work, had removed
Speaker 1: and placed elsewhere in the White House. During World War two,
Speaker 1: President Franklin Roosevelt, who was fast sinated with insignia, asked
Speaker 1: experts to redesign the presidential seal. They came up with
Speaker 1: the idea of adding a ring of stars to represent
Speaker 1: all the states, and having the eagle face the olive
Speaker 1: branches rather than the arrows, to emphasize the desire for
Speaker 1: peace rather than war. That design was the one that
Speaker 1: Truman approved in and it's been used ever since. In
Speaker 1: nineteen nineteen sixty, President Dwight Eisenhower updated it by adding
Speaker 1: stars for Alaska and Hawaii. Today's episode was written by
Speaker 1: Patrick J. Keiger and produced by Tyler Klang. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of I Heeart Radio's how Stuff Works. For
Speaker 1: more in this and lots of other official topics, visit
Speaker 1: our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. And for
Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows