The dove brought an olive leaf back to Noah's Ark, showing that the floodwaters had receded. Genesis 8:11 says the dove returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak.
This moment is one of the best-known images in the flood story. Noah had sent the dove out after an earlier flight failed to find a place to rest. The returned leaf provided evidence that land and vegetation were becoming available again, even though Noah remained inside the ark for a further period.
The olive branch later became a widely recognized symbol of peace, though its wider symbolic history includes sources beyond Genesis. The biblical passage itself focuses on renewed habitable land rather than defining a universal emblem. The text specifically names an olive leaf, not simply any green branch.