Commemoration of the 225th Anniversary of the Great Seal: Past, Present and Future

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the celebration of this exhibit commemorating the 225^th anniversary of the Great Seal. Today marks a historic first because this is the only exhibit of almost all the great major seals that have been there since 1782.

Senator Mathias, members of the Foreign Affairs Museum Council, and the many diplomats and ambassadors who have served here, I want to thank you for joining us and I’d especially like to welcome Dr. Allen Weinstein, our National Archivist who does an extraordinary job on behalf of our country and our history. I’d like to recognize the Bureau of Public Affairs, the U.S. Diplomacy Center for the work in updating the Great Seal room and in creating a traveling exhibition for education on the Great Seal, and of course, the National Archives itself for lending us the very first seal and its historic successors.

Now I’m really pleased to recognize some students who created artwork interpreting the Great Seal from their perspectives. Students Annie Lee, Shaun Ebaugh, Savanna Key and Ilana Shapiro are here today with their families and instructors, along with Ilana’s entire class, her teacher, and her principal from Kenmore Middle School. I’d like to ask Annie and Shaun and Savanna and Ilana to stand and let us give them a hand. (Applause.)

The student artwork reflects a bright future for our country, one based on the ever-renewing ideals inscribed in the Great Seal. The Great Seal was created when the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams formed the First Committee and contributed their ideals -- ideas to the Great Seal’s design. That’s quite a committee when you think about it.

Now our forbearers commissioned the design of the Great Seal to represent the existence of the United States to other nations. Its importance was so great that, like many bureaucratic affairs, it took six years before Congress would approve its final design. Unlike other countries that change seals with rulers and regimes, however, the U.S. has retained the very same seal for 225 years, a testimony to the enduring values inscribed inside that first seal.

In 1789, an Act of Congress gave the newly named Department of State the responsibility for using and guarding the Great Seal. Now I have to tell you a little personal story about this because when I became Secretary, I noticed that I was signing a lot of commissions for various people, for the Attorney General, for the Secretary of Agriculture, for all kinds of people.

And I said, "This is all very nice, but why am I signing these commissions for other people?" And someone said, "Well, run your hand across the face of this and you will feel the Great Seal," and I said, "Fine, I get it. Why am I signing all of these commissions?" (Laughter.) And they said, "Because you are the keeper of the Great Seal." And I said, "How long have I been the keeper of the Great Seal?" They said Thomas Jefferson was the first keeper of the Great Seal. I think my staff and the people around you can tell me that I’ve enjoyed very much getting to know about the Great Seal. It is a duty that I take very seriously. I actually think it’s a little bit like notary public of the country, but it is indeed an honor to be the 66^th keeper of the Great Seal.

For the Founding Fathers and generations since, the motto Novus Ordo Seclorum or New Order of the Ages underlined what America would stand for through the course of history. That was a new idea on the world scene, a nation devoted to the pursuit of freedom and democracy. This is what our men and women in uniform and our diplomats spread across the globe, have worked to defend and promote in the years since the Continental Congress sealed its first document on September 18, 1782.

This exhibit honoring the Great Seal affirms our continued belief in the values of our founding. With its eagle grasping an olive branch in one talon and bundle of 13 arrows in the other, the Great Seal symbolizes the unity, strength and independence of a new nation, the United States of America. The eagle faces the olive branch, a reminder that we are a peace-loving nation first, but that we will defend our security. The pyramid, our enduring and universal symbol, appears on the back of the Great Seal. The Founding Fathers chose this form based on their classical studies. They approved an unfinished pyramid to depict the never-ending task of building a lasting nation on a strong foundation. That image is as true today as it was 225 years ago. America is still a work in progress as all democracies are meant to be.

The exhibit will also be posted on the diplomacy.state.gov website to enable students and others to read and learn about the Great Seal. I encourage you to help spread the word and invite others to learn about the Great Seal, this important symbol of America’s freedom and promise for all men and women of our great country.

And now, I’d like to invite my friend, Alan Weinstein, to make a few remarks. Thank you. (Applause.)

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