“E Pluribus Unum” is Latin for “out of many, one.” It was placed on the Great Seal of the United States in 1782, appears on every U.S. coin by law and on the back of the $1 bill, and served as the country’s de facto motto until Congress adopted “In God We Trust” as the official national motto in 1956.1Encyclopedia Britannica. E Pluribus Unum | Meaning, History, Evolution, and Relevance
What the Phrase Means
Read literally, it describes one thing formed from many parts. When the Continental Congress chose it in the 1780s, the “many” were the thirteen former colonies and the “one” was the new nation they had formed together. Over time the phrase took on a broader reading: a single national identity emerging from people of vastly different origins, languages, and traditions.1Encyclopedia Britannica. E Pluribus Unum | Meaning, History, Evolution, and Relevance Both readings, political union and cultural unity, still travel with the phrase today.
Where the Phrase Came From
It didn’t originate in America. Versions of the idea run through centuries of Latin writing: Virgil’s Moretum (“color est e pluribus unus”), Cicero’s De Amicitia, and St. Augustine’s Confessions (“ex pluribus unum facere”). One scholarly analysis identifies the most likely classical ancestor as a line from Horace’s Epistles, “de pluribus una.”2The Classical Journal (reproduced on Penelope.UChicago.edu). E Pluribus Unum
The immediate source for the Founders was more modern. The London-based Gentleman’s Magazine, first published in 1731, printed “E Pluribus Unum” on its title page next to an illustration of a hand holding a bouquet of different flowers. Each annual volume bound that year’s twelve monthly issues into one, so the motto described the publication itself. The magazine was widely read in the American colonies during the 1770s, and its title page is almost certainly where the Founders encountered the phrase. The Gentleman’s Magazine had in turn borrowed it from an earlier London publication, the Gentleman’s Journal, where Pierre Antoine Motteux first used it in January 1692.2The Classical Journal (reproduced on Penelope.UChicago.edu). E Pluribus Unum
How It Reached the Great Seal
Just hours after adopting the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee to design a national seal. It included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, none of them experts in heraldry, so they brought in Pierre Eugene du Simitiere, a Philadelphia portrait artist and seal designer, as a consultant.3National Archives. Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States (1782)
Du Simitiere contributed several elements that survived into the final design, including a shield, the Eye of Providence inside a radiant triangle, and the motto “E Pluribus Unum.”4U.S. Department of State. The Great Seal of the United States The committee’s overall proposal was shelved, and a second and third committee followed without success. In early 1782 Congress handed the accumulated work to Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress. Thomson pulled together a coherent design, which was refined by William Barton, a Philadelphia student of heraldry. Congress approved the final Great Seal on June 20, 1782, and “E Pluribus Unum” was one of the few elements from the original 1776 committee to make the cut.3National Archives. Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States (1782)
Where the Motto Sits on the Seal
On the front of the Great Seal, a bald eagle holds a scroll in its beak inscribed with “E Pluribus Unum.” In one talon it grips an olive branch for peace; in the other, thirteen arrows for war. A shield with thirteen red and white stripes covers its chest, and thirteen stars appear above its head. According to the State Department’s official description, the motto “alludes to the union of the several states” represented by the stripes on the shield.4U.S. Department of State. The Great Seal of the United States
The obverse of the Great Seal also serves as the coat of arms of the United States. It appears on passports, military insignia, embassy placards, and official documents stamped by the State Department.4U.S. Department of State. The Great Seal of the United States
On Coins and Paper Money
The motto first appeared on U.S. coinage on the Half Eagle, a $5 gold coin with a heraldic eagle reverse and a flowing scroll reading “E Pluribus Unum.” Coins bearing that design carry dates as early as 1795.5NGC. Draped Bust Half Eagle (1795-1807) Use of the motto spread to certain silver coins by 1798 but was not consistent in the early decades of the Mint.
The Coinage Act of 1873 ended that inconsistency by requiring “E Pluribus Unum” on all U.S. coins. The requirement remains in force today. Title 31 of the U.S. Code provides that the reverse of each coin must bear the inscriptions “United States of America” and “E Pluribus Unum” along with a designation of value.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5112 – Denominations, Specifications, and Design of Coins On certain dollar coins, including Presidential and Native American dollars, the motto is incused on the edge rather than printed on the face, but it still appears on every coin the Mint produces.
Paper currency came later. “E Pluribus Unum” first appeared on the reverse of the $1 Silver Certificate in 1935, as part of the Great Seal depiction added to the back of the bill.7Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 1 Dollar, Silver Certificate, United States, 1935 That layout, with the Great Seal’s obverse on the right and its reverse (the pyramid with the Eye of Providence) on the left, has remained on the back of the $1 bill ever since. The motto shows on the scroll in the eagle’s beak.
Is It Still the National Motto?
No, not officially. For most of American history, “E Pluribus Unum” was the national motto in practice, but no statute ever designated it. That changed on July 30, 1956, when President Eisenhower signed legislation making “In God We Trust” the official national motto.8George W. Bush White House Archives. 50th Anniversary of Our National Motto, In God We Trust, 2006 The change came during the Cold War and followed the addition of “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance two years earlier.
Today, 36 U.S.C. § 302 codifies “In God we trust” as the national motto.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 36 USC 302 – National Motto That statute makes no mention of “E Pluribus Unum,” and no other federal law designates it as a formal secondary or alternative motto. Its legal footing comes instead from two other places: the coinage statute that requires it on every coin, and its permanent place on the Great Seal, which is itself recognized in 4 U.S.C. § 41.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 41 – Seal of the United States Calling the phrase “unofficial” is technically accurate, but between the coinage requirement, the passport, and the dollar bill, it has never actually left American public life.