''Annuit cœptis'' (, ) is one of two

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

s on the reverse side of the

Great Seal of the United States The Great Seal is the seal of the United States. The phrase is used both for the Seal (emblem), impression device itself, which is kept by the United States secretary of state, and more generally for the impression it produces. The Obverse and r ...

. The literal translation is " efavors (or "has favored") urundertakings", from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

("I approve, I favor"), and ("commencement, undertaking"). Because of its context as a caption above the

Eye of Providence The Eye of Providence or All-Seeing Eye is a symbol depicting an eye, often enclosed in a triangle and surrounded by rays of light or a halo, intended to represent Providence, as the eye watches over the workers of mankind. A well-known exampl ...

, the standard translations are "Providence favors our undertakings" and "Providence has favored our undertakings."

On the Great Seal

Barton explained that the motto alluded to the

: "''Deo favente'' which alludes to the Eye in the Arms, meant for the Eye of Providence." In western art, God is traditionally represented by the Eye of Providence, which principally symbolizes God's

omniscience Omniscience is the property of possessing maximal knowledge. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, it is often attributed to a divine being or an all-knowing spirit, entity or person. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any ...

. In 1782,

Samuel Adams Samuel Adams (, 1722 – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, Political philosophy, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts, a le ...

appointed a design artist, William Barton of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to bring a proposal for the national seal. For the reverse, Barton suggested a 13-layered pyramid underneath the

. The mottos which Barton chose to accompany the design were ''Deo Favente'' ("with God's favor", or more literally, "with God favoring") and ''Perennis'' ("Everlasting"). The pyramid and ''Perennis'' motto had come from a $50 Continental currency bill designed by

Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson (October 2,Hopkinson was born on September 21, 1737, according to the then-used Julian calendar (old style). In 1752, however, Great Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar (new style) which moved Hopkinson's ...

Change from ''Deo Favente'' to ''Annuit Cœptis''

When designing the final version of the Great Seal,

Charles Thomson Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Founding Father of the United States and secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson prepared the Journals of the ...

(a former Latin teacher) kept the pyramid and eye for the reverse side but replaced the two mottos, using ''Annuit Cœptis'' instead of ''Deo Favente'' and ''

Novus ordo seclorum The phrase ''Novus ordo seclorum'' (, ; "New order of the ages") is one of two Latin mottos on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. The other motto is '' Annuit cœptis''. The mottos were coined by Charles Thomson, the secreta ...

'' instead of ''Perennis''. When he provided his official explanation of the meaning of this motto, he wrote: ''Annuit Cœptis'' is translated by the U.S. State Department, the

U.S. Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. age ...

, and the

U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

as, "He odhas favored our undertakings" (brackets in original). However, the original Latin does not explicitly state who (or what) is the subject of the sentence. A 2024 publication in the Associated Gospel Churches Journal explores the question as to whether ''Annuit Coeptis'' makes reference to God, examining the claim that the founders of the United States were deliberate to avoid references to God by choosing only secular mottos.

Classical source of the motto

According to Richard S. Patterson and Richardson Dougall, ''Annuit cœptis'' (meaning "He favours our undertakings") and the other motto on the reverse of the Great Seal, ''

'' (meaning "new order of the ages"), can both be traced to lines by the Roman poet

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

. ''Annuit cœptis'' comes from the ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

'', book IX, line 635, which reads, ''Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnue coeptis''. Vergilius Maro, Publius (2919 BC).
Aeneid
'. Retrieved 11-25-2011. It is a prayer by

Ascanius Ascanius (; Ancient Greek: Ἀσκάνιος) was a Kings of Alba Longa , legendary king of Alba Longa (traditional reign: 1176 BC to 1138 BC) and the son of the Troy, Trojan hero Aeneas and of Creusa of Troy, Creusa, daughter of Priam. He is a ...

, the son of the hero of the story,

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

, which translates to, "

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

Almighty, favour ybold undertakings", just before slaying an enemy warrior, Numanus. The same language also occurred in an earlier poem of Virgil, the ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek language, Greek word , ''geōrgiká'', i.e. "agricultural hings) the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from bei ...

''. In line I.40 of that work is the phrase "da facilem cursum atque ''audacibus annue cœptis''." The line is addressed to

Caesar Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

and translates to "give san easy path and nod at our audacious undertakings."

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Annuit coptis Latin mottos National symbols of the United States