What was the first sign that the dove found land after leaving Noah’s Ark?

The first sign that the dove found land after leaving Noah’s Ark was an olive leaf.

Genesis 8:8–11 describes Noah sending out a dove to test whether the floodwaters had receded. On its second release, the dove returned in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak. Noah understood this as evidence that the waters had diminished from the earth.

The dove’s later release produced a different result: it did not return. Together, these episodes mark stages in the drying of the land rather than a single instant when the flood ended.

The olive leaf later became a widely recognized symbol of peace and renewal. In the biblical narrative, however, its immediate function is practical: it tells Noah that vegetation has reappeared above the receding waters.