“E PLURIBUS UNUM”

“E PLURIBUS UNUM” (Out of many, one), motto
featured on the Great Seal of the United States. After
declaring independence, the Continental Congress appointed
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas
Jefferson to devise a seal. In consultation with Swiss-born
artist Pierre Euge`ne du Simitie`re, they selected E Pluribus
Unum, motto of the popular London-based anthology,
Gentleman’s Magazine, to emblematize the diversity
of the American people. Scholars have not located the
exact phrase in classical literature, but Virgil’s Moretum
contains a similar expression. Subsequent committees
kept this motto, but substituted an eagle for the proposed
heraldic shield. Adopted by Congress on 20 June 1782,
the Great Seal appears on numerous currencies, seals, and
flags.