Seal of the United States and Inscription at the Hoover Dam Memorial

The first of these committees consisted of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. Each of these men proposed a design for the seal. Franklin chose an allegorical scene that demonstrated the motto, "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God," where there is a depiction of the biblical story of the Exodus, when the Children of Israel are confronted by Pharaoh and achieve their liberation from slavery in Egypt. Jefferson suggested a depiction of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night for the front of the seal; and Hengest and Horsa, the two brothers who were the legendary leaders of the first Anglo-Saxon settlers in Britain, for the reverse side of the seal. Adams chose the painting known as the "Judgment of Hercules" where the young Hercules must choose to travel either on the flowery path of self-indulgence or the rugged, more difficult, uphill path of duty to others and honor to himself. Congress ultimately chose none of these initial designs. An additional design was submitted by a consultant to this committee, Pierre Du and two design elements of in his design appear in the final design (the "Eye of Providence" and the motto E Pluribus Unum - Out of Many, One).

 
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