Who is the designer of the American national emblem?

The design of American national emblem

1776 On July 4th, the newly independent United States held a continental congress, which passed a resolution and decided to set up a three-member committee composed of Dr. Franklin, Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson to start designing the national emblem of the United States of America. So three of the five people who had drafted the declaration of independence were called together again and continued to work hard for their country. Because this revolution needs a symbol, this nation needs a badge to symbolize the ambition of a sovereign country for the future and the ideal of a free nation full of good hopes. However, this work is far more difficult than expected. After the joint efforts of three committees and members of 14 for six years, the design scheme of the American national emblem was finally completed on 1782 on June 20th.

The challenge for the First Committee to design the national emblem is to express intangible principles and ideals with tangible patterns. Franklin, Adams and Jefferson, the smartest people in the Enlightenment, were able to choose from the Bible and traditional themes, including Jewish Children in the Wilderness and Justice of Hercules. ), and finally they rescued Pierre Eugene Dusimir Daryer. This man is a talented painter and portrait artist. He has both knowledge of badge science and experience in designing seals. With his help, the four features of the national emblem recommended by the first Committee and its consultants were adopted in the later design scheme, namely, the eye of God and the date of independence MDCCLXXVI( 1776), both of which were drawn on the back of the national emblem; The design on the front of the national emblem is the coat of arms and the Latin motto e Pluribus Unum. On August 20th, 776,1this committee submitted the design scheme to the parliament, but the parliament did not approve it and the scheme was shelved.

1780 In March, Parliament handed over the design drawings and reports of the First Committee to the Second Committee composed of James Raphael, John Molly Scott and William Churchill Houston. The Committee hired Francis Hopkinson, a talented Philadelphia citizen, as an adviser. This man designed the American flag and the state emblem of New Jersey. Although their design scheme was not adopted in the end, influenced by the national flag design scheme adopted by 1777, they conceived a pattern consisting of 13 red and white stripes, 13 brilliant six-pointed star and an olive branch symbolizing peace.

1782 in may, the parliament appointed the third national emblem design Committee, and its three members were John rutreggie, Arthur medelton and Elias Boudina. Although they hardly did any important work themselves, they got great help from William Barton from Philadelphia. Barton is a young lawyer with artistic talent and is proficient in badge science, which makes him a major figure in the design of the national emblem. Barton's main design pattern is an eagle with white wings, not an American vulture. He combined the eagle with a small flag. The back pattern is an unfinished pyramid with 13 steps and the eye of God designed by the First Committee. Barton quickly drew two patterns and wrote the process instructions. On the fifth day after its appointment, the Committee submitted its design plan to Parliament.

However, the Parliament thinks that the design of the Third Committee is still unsatisfactory, which is convenient for Charles Thomson, the Secretary for Government Affairs, to select the final plan on June 1782+03. Charles is not an artist, but he has a strong ability to deal with specific affairs, which is exactly what he needs at this time. Charles Thomson picked out what he thought was the best feature from the previous design pattern-highlighting the eagle. He thought that the symbol of the new country should be American, so he replaced Barton's crested British imperial eagle with an American vulture. The eagle's wings spread downward, as if flying, with a bunch of arrows in its left paw and an olive branch in its right paw. Thomson changed the crown hair (the pattern of the upper part of the national emblem) to 13, a bright five-pointed star displayed through the clouds; The crest on the eagle's chest is herringbone, consisting of red and white stripes; The eagle has a badge ribbon in its mouth, and the Latin motto e pluibussunum is written on the ribbon. This pattern is used on the front of the national emblem.

Thomson chose the pattern on the back of the national emblem, which kept the eye of God in the pyramid and its top triangle, and quoted the Latin motto "annuity Coeptis" above the eye (God supports our cause); At the bottom of the pyramid, Novus Ordo Secorum (new system of the times) is written. He handed the sketch to Barton to polish it.

In Barton's final design, the eagle's wings extend upward; He also simplified the herringbone stripes on the coat of arms in Thomson's sketch into red and white 13 vertical stripes, which were placed under the rectangular blue body (the upper part of the coat of arms), and specified that the arrow in the eagle's left paw should be 13.

The design was returned to Thomson on June 1782. After a slight modification, he wrote the exact description of the design overnight, and attached relevant narrative descriptions, which were submitted to the parliament on June 20, and the parliament adopted Thomson's design plan that day. In this way, nearly six years after the establishment of the First Committee, Charles Thomson and William Barton designed the national emblem of the United States of America. The unparalleled simplicity and striking design of the American national emblem is the crystallization of its designer's talent and wisdom.

The design of the American national emblem symbolically reflects the beliefs and values entrusted by entrepreneurs to the new country, and shows that they hope to pass these beliefs and values on to future generations. Thomson explained this design in his report to parliament:

The main pattern on the front of the national emblem is the American vulture, and the main color of the shield emblem on the eagle's chest is blue, which consists of two common patterns with lofty meanings: the main color block (the upper part of the shield emblem) and the fence. These symbols represent 13 states combined into a solid and closely United whole to set off the main body, which unites to represent the parliament. The fence in the national emblem is closely United by the main body, and the main body relies on the consortium, which produces support, indicating that the United States maintains this unity through Congress. The color of the coat of arms is the color used by the American flag, in which white symbolizes purity, red symbolizes courage and strength, and blue symbolizes vigilance, perseverance and adherence to justice. The coat of arms is worn on the chest of the American eagle without any support, which symbolizes that the United States should rely on its own strength. 13 state is represented by a series of arrows, stripes on the shield and a group of brilliant stars. Olive branches and arrows symbolize the power of war and peace, and bright stars show that a new federal country has gained its own independent status among other sovereign countries. The motto E Pluribus Unum on the eagle's beak badge stands for a federation of 65,438+03 states.

On the back of the national emblem, the main pattern is a pyramid with 13 steps, with the radiant triangular eye of God at the top and the Latin motto "annuity" (God supports our cause) above the eye; Roman numeral MDCCLXXVI( 1776) is engraved on the bottom of the tower, and Latin Novus Ordo Seclorun (a new era system) is written along the semicircular ribbon at the bottom of the pattern, indicating that 1776 is the beginning of a new era in the United States.

The first impression of the national emblem of the United States is that 1782 was carved by a sculptor with brass. The identity of the sculptor has not yet been determined, and it may be robert scott from Philadelphia. At that time, the US Congress decided that the Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson, was responsible for finding and providing suitable sculptors, and he was responsible for keeping the imprint of the national emblem. From June to September, 1782, the stamps and publishing houses of the national emblem came out. /kloc-It was first used by Thomson in September, 0/6, and then deposited in the Asian Parliament of Philadelphia. The first document stamped with this national emblem was an official document, authorizing General Washington to negotiate with Britain and sign an agreement between the two countries on the exchange of prisoners of war, living expenses of prisoners of war and kindness to prisoners of war. The document was signed by john henson, chairman of the American continent seminar, and co-signed by Thomson. Thomson kept the seal of the national emblem until 1789 when the parliament handed over power to the new government, and then the national emblem was taken over by the minister of state.

The national emblem stamp 1782 has a diameter of 25/ 16 inch, and its appearance is quite simple. It has been used for 184 1 year, but it can no longer be used because the seal is worn. This impression is now on display in the National Archives of the United States.

Note: This article is compiled according to "American Navy Seals" published by the National Archives.

(Excerpted from Archives, No.2, 2000)