WEBVTT - What Is the U.S. Presidential Seal?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vog obam here. Over the years, you've probably noticed

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<v Speaker 1>the emblem emblazoned on the side of Air Force one.

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<v Speaker 1>It's also attached to the podium from which the U.

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<v Speaker 1>S President gives speeches and appears on official White House

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<v Speaker 1>stationary and invitations. A railroad locomotive painted to honor President

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<v Speaker 1>George H. W. Bush is decorated with it. It's the

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<v Speaker 1>Seal of the President of the United States of America.

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<v Speaker 1>The Presidential Seal looks similar with slight differences, to the

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<v Speaker 1>Great Seal of the United States, the official symbol that's

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<v Speaker 1>impressed upon official documents such as treaties and commissions. The

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<v Speaker 1>precise design of the Presidential Seal was detailed in Executive

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<v Speaker 1>Order ninety issued in October by President Harry S. Truman.

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<v Speaker 1>It specified that the seal depict an American eagle that's

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<v Speaker 1>holding an olive branch and its right talent and a

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<v Speaker 1>bundle of thirteen arrows to symbolize the original thirteen States

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<v Speaker 1>and its left while clutching in its peak. A white

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<v Speaker 1>scroll inscribed with the motto e pluribus unum Latin for

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<v Speaker 1>out of many one. Behind and above the eagle, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a background of radiating glory, a depiction of rays of light,

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<v Speaker 1>crossed by an arc of thirteen cloud puffs, below which

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<v Speaker 1>there's a constellation of Mullet's argent, which are five pointed

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<v Speaker 1>compass stars. That image is surrounded by a ring of

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<v Speaker 1>white stars symbolizing the current fifty United States, and around

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<v Speaker 1>that another circle with the lettering seal of the President

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<v Speaker 1>of the United States. Though the presidential seals precise origins

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<v Speaker 1>are unclear, it was clearly inspired by the Great Seal.

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<v Speaker 1>That national symbol was adopted by the Continental Congress in

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<v Speaker 1>two after Secretary of the Continental Congress Charles Thompson merged

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<v Speaker 1>ideas from several committees into a sketch that subsequently was

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<v Speaker 1>modified by heraldist Thomas Barton. That's according to the State

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<v Speaker 1>Departments nine six Official History of the Great Seal, written

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<v Speaker 1>by rich As Patterson and Richardson Dougal. But at some

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<v Speaker 1>point U S presidents decided that, like the British monarch,

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<v Speaker 1>they needed their own personal coat of arms as well.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke by email with Matthew Costello, senior historian for

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<v Speaker 1>the White House Historical Association, He said that the Great

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<v Speaker 1>Seal quote was the official symbol of the United States

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<v Speaker 1>federal government, not the office of the presidency. As such,

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<v Speaker 1>some presidents simply used the Great Seal, while others thought

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<v Speaker 1>that the president should have their own distinct seal. Costello

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<v Speaker 1>explains at least several presidents in the eighteen hundreds created

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<v Speaker 1>their own seals, incorporating whatever flourishes appealed to them. James K. Polk,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, used his own seal on the proclamation of

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<v Speaker 1>war against Mexico. In eighteen forty six. Millard Fillmore came

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<v Speaker 1>up with his own slightly different version, which he sent

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<v Speaker 1>to Maryland postmaster and engraver Edward Stabler to make. In

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen fifty, Lincoln used a personalized seal as well. A

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<v Speaker 1>presidential seal actually appear on an invitation to an event

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<v Speaker 1>until eighteen seventy seven, according to author's Patterson and Dugal

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<v Speaker 1>President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was hosting a dinner honoring

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<v Speaker 1>Russian Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch, made the invites look fancier

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<v Speaker 1>by emblazoning them with a seal that featured an arc

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<v Speaker 1>of clouds, rays, and stars between the eagles wingtips, but

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<v Speaker 1>the Hayes eagle was thinner and scrawnier than today's robust

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<v Speaker 1>looking eagle, and its head was turned toward the bundle

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<v Speaker 1>of arrows rather than toward the olive branch. In nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>o two, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered yet another presidential seal

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<v Speaker 1>to be installed on the floor of the White House

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<v Speaker 1>entrance hall. He commissioned to French American sculptor Philip Martine

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<v Speaker 1>to create a new one. Martine drew upon the Hayes design,

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<v Speaker 1>but added a few changes, including engraving the phrase the

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<v Speaker 1>Seal of the President of the United States in that

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<v Speaker 1>circular border. Truman, who didn't like Martine's work, had removed

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<v Speaker 1>and placed elsewhere in the White House. During World War two,

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<v Speaker 1>President Franklin Roosevelt, who was fast sinated with insignia, asked

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<v Speaker 1>experts to redesign the presidential seal. They came up with

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<v Speaker 1>the idea of adding a ring of stars to represent

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<v Speaker 1>all the states, and having the eagle face the olive

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<v Speaker 1>branches rather than the arrows, to emphasize the desire for

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<v Speaker 1>peace rather than war. That design was the one that

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<v Speaker 1>Truman approved in and it's been used ever since. In

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen nineteen sixty, President Dwight Eisenhower updated it by adding

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<v Speaker 1>stars for Alaska and Hawaii. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Patrick J. Keiger and produced by Tyler Klang. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of I Heeart Radio's how Stuff Works. For

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<v Speaker 1>more in this and lots of other official topics, visit

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