What was the first sign the dove brought back to Noah from the Ark?

The first sign the dove brought back to Noah was a freshly plucked olive leaf.

Genesis 8:11 says the dove returned to the ark in the evening carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf. Noah understood this as evidence that the floodwaters had receded from the earth enough for vegetation to be accessible.

The dove had already been released once and returned without a reported object because it found no place to rest. Noah sent it out again seven days later, and the olive leaf marked a new stage in the drying process.

The olive branch later became a widely recognized symbol of peace, although the Genesis passage itself focuses on land reappearing after the Flood. The story's bird sequence includes a raven first and a dove afterward.