What did Noah’s dove carry back to the ark as evidence that the waters had receded?

Noah’s dove carried back an olive leaf as evidence that the floodwaters had receded.

Genesis 8:11 says the dove returned in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf. Noah understood this as a sign that the waters had diminished from the earth. When the dove failed to return after a later flight, Noah inferred that the ground was becoming suitable for leaving the ark.

The olive leaf became a powerful symbol of peace, hope, and renewal in later art and culture. Its meaning is connected to the biblical story, although the Genesis passage itself presents it first as practical evidence of newly exposed vegetation.

The episode is sometimes loosely described as a branch, but the text specifically says an olive leaf. It is also distinct from the rainbow, which appears later in the story as the sign of God’s covenant with Noah.