“E pluribus unum” is the Latin motto appearing on the Great Seal of the United States.
The phrase means “Out of many, one,” expressing the idea that separate states and people form a single nation. It appears on the scroll held in the eagle’s beak on the obverse design of the Great Seal.
The Great Seal was adopted in 1782, six years after the Declaration of Independence. Its other major elements include an eagle, a shield, an olive branch, arrows, and a constellation of stars. The motto connects the seal’s symbolism to union during the country’s founding period.
A common mix-up is confusing E pluribus unum with the other Latin phrases associated with the seal. “Annuit coeptis” and “Novus ordo seclorum” appear on the reverse side, while “In God We Trust” is the national motto adopted much later.