What did the dove bring Noah in the biblical Noah's Ark story?

In the biblical Noah's Ark story, the dove brought Noah an olive leaf.

Genesis says Noah sent the dove out after waiting seven days. It returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf, showing that the Flood waters had receded enough for vegetation to grow or remain above water. Noah waited another seven days and sent the dove out again; it did not return.

The olive leaf became a powerful symbol of peace, hope, and the end of catastrophe. Its meaning was strengthened by the bird's return to the ark and by the narrative's movement from judgment toward renewed life.

The passage specifies an olive leaf, not a branch from an unspecified tree. Artistic depictions often enlarge it into a twig or branch, but the biblical detail is more precise. The dove and olive leaf later became widely used symbols far beyond religious art, including modern peace imagery.