A bald eagle appears on the Great Seal of the United States, a symbol featured in America's 250th anniversary history.
The eagle was adopted as the seal's central supporter on June 20, 1782. Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson developed the final design from ideas submitted by earlier committees, while artist William Barton contributed important heraldic details. The eagle holds an olive branch in one talon and thirteen arrows in the other.
The olive branch and arrows symbolize the power to pursue peace and the ability to defend the country. The bird is a bald eagle, meaning the North American species Haliaeetus leucocephalus, not an eagle without feathers. The Great Seal's reverse includes an unfinished pyramid and an eye, but the bald eagle appears on the obverse.