Charles Thomson largely designed the Great Seal of the United States after Congress revisited the project in 1782.
Thomson was secretary of the Continental Congress when Congress asked him in June 1782 to develop a final design using ideas from three earlier committees. He selected the bald eagle as the seal’s supporter, arranged thirteen stripes on the shield, and included an olive branch, arrows, and thirteen stars.
Thomson also supplied the explanations and Latin mottos associated with the final design, including E Pluribus Unum, Annuit cœptis, and Novus ordo seclorum. Heraldic artist William Barton contributed important technical work and drew the final design.
Congress accepted Thomson’s design on June 20, 1782. The seal was first used on September 16, 1782, to authenticate a document concerning the exchange of prisoners. The pyramid and eye appear on the reverse, which has never been cut as a physical die.