In the Genesis story of Noah’s Ark, a dove first returns with no olive leaf. Noah sends the dove from the ark after the waters begin to subside, and the bird initially finds nowhere to land.
Genesis then describes Noah sending the dove again seven days later. This time it returns in the evening carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf, showing that vegetation has reappeared above the floodwaters. After another seven days, Noah sends it out once more, and it does not return.
The olive leaf became a widely recognized symbol of peace and hope, especially through later Jewish, Christian, and artistic traditions. The biblical passage itself uses the bird and leaf as evidence that the land is becoming habitable again.
The dove is distinct from the raven mentioned earlier in the same sequence. Genesis says Noah first sends out a raven, then sends the dove repeatedly. Retellings often combine these episodes, but the text names both birds separately.