What did Noah's dove return with after the floodwaters receded?

Noah's dove returned with an olive leaf after the floodwaters receded.

Genesis 8:11 says the dove came back in the evening carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf. This gave Noah evidence that the waters had diminished and that plant life was again available outside the ark. Noah later sent the dove out once more, and it did not return.

The olive leaf became a widely recognized symbol of peace, renewal, and hope, partly because later Jewish, Christian, and artistic traditions connected it with the end of the flood. The biblical scene itself is specifically about discovering that the earth was becoming dry and habitable.

The account distinguishes the leaf from the bird. The dove carried the leaf; it did not carry a whole branch or a flower. Popular retellings and artwork sometimes simplify the detail, but Genesis uses the freshly plucked olive leaf as the sign.