This article is part of a series on the |
Culture of the United States |
---|
Society |
Arts and literature |
Other |
Symbols |
United States portal |
National symbols of the United States are the symbols used to represent the United States of America.
Sr. No. | Symbol | Name | File | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Flag | Flag of the United States | [1] | |
2. | Seal | Great Seal of the United States | (obverse) (reverse) | [2] |
3. | National animal | Bald eagle | [3] | |
4. | National mammal | American Bison | [4] [5] [6] | |
5. | National anthem | "The Star-Spangled Banner" | "The Star-Spangled Banner" | [7] |
6. | National motto | "In God We Trust" | [8] [9] | |
7. | National floral emblem | Rose | [10] | |
8. | National march | "The Stars and Stripes Forever" | "The Stars and Stripes Forever" | [11] |
9. | National tree | Oak tree (Quercus) | [12] | |
10. | Oath of Allegiance | Pledge of Allegiance |
The Great Seal is the seal of the United States. The phrase is used both for the impression device itself, which is kept by the United States secretary of state, and more generally for the impression it produces. The obverse of the Great Seal depicts the national coat of arms of the United States while the reverse features a truncated pyramid topped by an Eye of Providence. The year of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, 1776, is noted in Roman numerals at the base of the pyramid. The seal contains three Latin phrases: E Pluribus Unum, Annuit cœptis, and Novus ordo seclorum.
The coat of arms of the state of New York was formally adopted in 1778, and appears as a component of the state's flag and seal.
The coat of arms of the Philippines features the eight-rayed sun of the Philippines with each ray representing the eight provinces which were placed under martial law by Governor-General Ramón Blanco Sr. during the Philippine Revolution, and the three five-pointed stars representing the three major island groups of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
The flag of the state of Michigan is a coat of arms set on a dark blue field, as set forth by Michigan state law. The governor has a variant of the flag with a white field instead of blue one. The state has an official flag month from June 14 through July 14.
E pluribus unum – Latin for "Out of many, one" – is a traditional motto of the United States, appearing on the Great Seal along with Annuit cœptis and Novus ordo seclorum which appear on the reverse of the Great Seal; its inclusion on the seal was suggested by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere and approved in an act of the Congress of the Confederation in 1782. While its status as national motto was for many years unofficial, E pluribus unum was still considered the de facto motto of the United States from its early history. Eventually, the U.S. Congress passed an act in 1956, adopting "In God We Trust" as the official motto.
The flag of Delaware consists of a buff-colored diamond on a field of colonial blue, with the coat of arms of the state of Delaware inside the diamond. Below the diamond, the date December 7, 1787, declares the day on which Delaware became the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. The colors of the flag reflect the colors of the uniform of General George Washington.
The flag of the state of Iowa is a vertical tricolor flag designed by Dixie Cornell Gebhardt in 1917. Iowa, United States legislators officially adopted the flag in 1921.
The flag of West Virginia is the official flag of the U.S. State of West Virginia and was officially adopted by the West Virginia Legislature on March 7, 1929. The present flag consists of a pure white field bordered by a blue stripe with the coat of arms of West Virginia in the center, wreathed by Rhododendron maximum and topped by an unfurled red ribbon reading, "State of West Virginia." It is the only state flag to bear crossing rifles, meant to illustrate the importance of the state's fight for liberty during the Civil War as the southern unionist 35th state.
The seal of the president of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the president of the United States to the U.S. Congress, and is also used as a symbol of the presidency itself. The central design, based on the Great Seal of the United States, is the official coat of arms of the U.S. presidency and also appears on the presidential flag.
The Great Seal of the State of Michigan depicts the coat of arms of the U.S. state of Michigan on a light blue field. On the dark blue shield the Sun rises over a lake and peninsula, a man holding a long gun with a raised hand represents peace and the ability to defend his rights. The elk and moose are symbols of Michigan, while the bald eagle represents the United States.
The Great Seal of the State of New Mexico is the official seal of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is enshrined in Article V, Section 10, of the New Mexico State Constitution, which requires a state emblem to be kept by the secretary of state for official documents and other expressions of statehood. Rooted in the official seal of the New Mexico Territory established in 1851, it was adopted in 1913, one year after New Mexico was admitted as the 47th state.
Audemus jura nostra defendere — Latin for "We Dare Defend Our Rights" or "We Dare Maintain Our Rights" — is the state motto of Alabama and is depicted on the official Coat of arms of Alabama. The current coat of arms was created in 1923 at the request of state historian and director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Marie Bankhead Owen. It was not officially adopted until March 14, 1939. The motto itself is emblazoned on a golden band across the bottom of the coat of arms. The escutcheon of the coat of arms is quartered into the flags of the Kingdom of France, the Crown of Castile, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Confederate States of America, with a central overlay of the shield of the United States. Bald eagles serve as supporters to either side of the escutcheon. All is surmounted by a crimson and white torse and the Baldine, the sailing ship that Iberville and Bienville arrived in prior to the settlement of the colony of Mobile.
The Great Seal of the State of Alabama is the state seal of the U.S. state of Alabama.
The Great Seal of the State of Illinois is the official emblem of the U.S. state, and signifies the official nature of a document produced by the state of Illinois. The flag of the state of Illinois consists of the seal of Illinois on a white background, with the word "Illinois" underneath the seal. The present seal was adopted in 1869, the flag bearing the central elements of the seal was adopted in 1915, and the word Illinois was added to the flag in 1970. In a 2001 survey by the North American Vexillological Association, the flag of Illinois was ranked 49th out of 72 different flags of states and territories, mainly in the US and Canada.
The ensign of the United States is the flag of the United States when worn as an ensign. International maritime law—see International Treaty on Law of the Sea, articles 91 and 92—provides that vessels have a "national character" and thus should display a flag (ensign) that corresponds to this national character, especially when in international or foreign waters. Vessels that are formally documented under the federal vessel documentation act, vessels owned by government bodies in the United States, and vessels in the U.S. military unquestionably have U.S. national character, and thus properly hoist a U.S. ensign to show their national character. Vessels that are numbered by the states and small, non-registered craft owned by U.S. citizens and not registered in other countries may also hoist a U.S. ensign to show their national character.
The Headquarters Air Force badge was created in 2005 by the United States Air Force. Airmen currently assigned to Headquarters Air Force at the Pentagon or who have been assigned to a qualifying Headquarters Air Force staff or Secretary of the Air Force staff position for at least 365 consecutive days are entitled to wear the badge. Wearing the badge is optional.
The modern motto of the United States of America, as established in a 1956 law signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, is "In God we trust". The phrase first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864.
The seal of the vice president of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the U.S. vice president to other members of government, and is also used as a symbol of the vice presidency. The central design, directly based on the seal of the president of the United States, is the official coat of arms of the U.S. vice presidency and also appears on the vice presidential flag.
The coat of arms of the Orange Free State was the official heraldic symbol of the Orange Free State as a republic from 1857 to 1902, and later, from 1937 to 1994, as a province of South Africa. It is now obsolete.