In the Book of Genesis, a dove returned to Noah with a freshly plucked olive leaf.
Genesis 8:8–11 describes Noah sending the dove after the raven. The dove first returned because it found no place to rest. After seven days, Noah sent it again, and it came back in the evening carrying a fresh olive leaf. Noah understood that the waters had receded from the earth.
The dove was sent once more after another seven-day interval. This time it did not return, indicating that the land had become suitable for life outside the Ark. The passage does not call the leaf an “olive branch”; that familiar phrase comes from later artistic and cultural shorthand.
The scene became one of the best-known symbols of peace and renewed life. It is distinct from the raven episode immediately preceding it, and it should not be confused with the different bird-release sequence in the Epic of Gilgamesh.