The Latin motto on the scroll in the eagle’s beak on the Great Seal of the United States is E Pluribus Unum.
The phrase translates as “Out of many, one,” expressing the union of the thirteen original states. The Continental Congress adopted the Great Seal’s final design on June 20, 1782, after several committees and contributors had worked on proposals over a number of years.
The seal’s obverse shows a bald eagle carrying an olive branch and thirteen arrows. The olive branch represents peace, while the arrows symbolize readiness for war. The eagle’s shield has thirteen alternating red and white stripes beneath a blue chief, continuing the recurring symbolism of the original states.
E Pluribus Unum is different from the two Latin phrases on the seal’s reverse: Annuit Coeptis appears above the unfinished pyramid, and Novus Ordo Seclorum appears below it. In God We Trust is the official national motto of the United States today, but it is not the phrase on the eagle’s beak scroll.