Fifth Grade
Worksheets
Great Seal Adopted, 1782
Anniversary of U.S. Great Seal's adoption
Reading Comprehension for June 20
Put those thoughts of fish-eating, horn-honking, ball-balancing, water-loving mammals out of your mind. Seals are really cute animals, but today's topic is not the animal seal. It is about the emblem called the Great Seal. It stands for the United States government. It is pressed into important government documents. It's even on the back of a one dollar bill!
On the front of the Great Seal is the likeness of an American bald eagle - not a seal. The eagle clutches thirteen arrows in one talon and an olive branch with thirteen leaves and olives in the other. Thirteen stars hang above the eagle's head. In its beak is a scroll that displays the motto, "E Pluribus Unum." Covering its breast is a shield that bears thirteen vertical stripes beneath a blue chief.
On the back is a pyramid. In place of its point is a triangle featuring an eye. What surrounds the eye is called a golden glory. Above the eye are the words "Annuit Coeptis." The numerical letters MDCCLXXVI, which stands for 1776 (the date of the Declaration of Independence), are on the base of the pyramid. Below that is the motto, "Novus Ordo Seclorum."
