In Genesis, a dove returns to Noah with a freshly plucked olive leaf.
After the raven has been sent out, Noah sends a dove to learn whether the floodwaters have fallen. The dove first returns because it finds nowhere to rest. After seven more days, Noah sends it again, and it comes back in the evening carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf. This tells Noah that the waters have receded from the earth’s surface.
The olive leaf became a widely recognized symbol of peace and renewal, although Genesis presents it first as practical evidence that dry land and vegetation were reappearing. The story distinguishes the dove from the raven; they are two separate birds used at different stages of Noah’s test.