Thirteen arrows in one talon, an olive branch in the other, Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States on June 20, 1782, six years after a committee first sat down to design it. The process consumed three separate design committees and the sharp eye of Philadelphia lawyer Charles Thomson, who synthesized the competing drafts into the bold heraldic image still stamped on every official US document and dollar bill today. The front face places a bald eagle at center, its shield bearing thirteen stripes for the original states, the arrows signaling readiness for war, and the olive branch signaling preference for peace. The Latin motto *E Pluribus Unum*, "Out of Many, One", arcs above the eagle's head, crystallizing the fragile new republic's core wager: that thirteen fractious colonies could act as a single sovereign nation. Nearly 245 years later, that emblem appears on passports, federal courtrooms, and the presidential podium, making it the most recognized symbol of American governmental authority in the world.