How the Great Seal Symbolizes Liberty and Freedom

All three preliminary designs for the Great Seal emphasized the theme of liberty – usually represented as a female figure in various guises.

First Committee (1776)
"The Goddess of Liberty" supported the shield on one side. She wore "a corslet of armour alluding to the present Times" and held her "Spear & Cap."

Second Committee (1780)
On the reverse side, Liberty is seated in a chair holding an olive branch and her staff with a Liberty cap on top of it. At first the motto was Semper Libertas Virtute perennis, which means "Liberty everlasting because of (or by reason of) virtue." (This was shortened to Virtute perennis – "Everlasting because of virtue.")

The Latin word virtute is a form of virtus which originally meant manliness, strength, or bravery. It came to also mean excellence, moral worth, or virtue.

Third Committee (1782)
On the shield is a pillar topped by a "Phoenix in Flames" which was described as being "emblematical of the expiring Liberty of Britain, revived by her Descendants, in America." The accompanying motto, In Vindiciam Libertatis, means "In Defense of Liberty."

Liberty in the Form of the Goddess of Youth Giving Support to the Bald Eagle, by Abijah Canfield (c. 1800) from an engraving by Edward Savage. Final Design (1782)
The shield is "born on the breast of an American Eagle without any other supporters, to denote that the United States of America ought to rely on their own Virtue."

The Bald Eagle itself is here a symbol of freedom and liberty, especially the way Thomson first described it: "on the wing and rising."

The Bald Eagle was rarely used as a symbol in America prior to 1782, but after it became the centerpiece on the Great Seal, the Bald Eagle quickly captured the public's interest. Americans took their national bird to heart, and it became popular in sculpture and art – often as the companion of Lady Liberty.

From the National Statuary Hall at the U. S. Capitol. Liberty and the Eagle
Liberty holds the Constitution of the United States with the American Eagle at her side (left image). They originally stood above the Speaker's desk of the House of Representatives in 1819.

Painting on the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Genius of America
On the centerpiece of the sculptural pediment over the east central entrance to the U.S. Capitol building (right image, detail) is America with the Bald Eagle at her side.

From the National Statuary Hall at the U. S. Capitol. High above Abraham Lincoln, in the Dome of the U.S. Capitol Rotunda is America's equivalent of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel where Liberty and the Eagle join other heroic figures in the Apotheosis of Washington.

Liberty and Eagle working together to protect us.

From Walt Whitman's Preface to Leaves of Grass (1855):
"Liberty relies upon itself, invites no one, promises nothing,
sits in calmness and light, is positive and composed,
and knows no discouragement."

Thomas Paine sings her praises in "Liberty Tree."

Top image is a painting on glass by Abijah Canfield from Connecticut (c. 1800). It is based on the famous steel engraving by Edward Savage titled: "Liberty in the Form of the Goddess of Youth Giving Support to the Bald Eagle" (1796).

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