Editing Great Seal of the United States (section)

===Blazon===
[[File:War in The Apotheosis of Washington.jpg|thumb|left|The arms as held by [[Columbia (personification)|Columbia]] in the war scene of the [[United States Capitol]]'s 1865 [[The Apotheosis of Washington|''Apotheosis of Washington'']]]]
The 1782 resolution of [[Congress of the Confederation|Congress]] adopting the arms, still in force, legally [[blazon]]ed the shield as:
{{quote|Paleways of 13 pieces, [[argent]] and [[gules]]; a [[Chief (heraldry)|chief]], [[Azure (heraldry)|azure]].}}

As the designers recognized,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/features/great-seal#:~:text=This%20description%20called%20a%20%E2%80%9Cblazon,and%20Thomson%20the%20reverse%20side. |title=The Great Seal of the United States {{!}} GovInfo |access-date=March 13, 2024 |archive-date=March 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313065904/https://www.govinfo.gov/features/great-seal#:~:text=This%20description%20called%20a%20%E2%80%9Cblazon,and%20Thomson%20the%20reverse%20side. |url-status=live }}</ref> this is a technically incorrect blazon under traditional English heraldic rules, since in English practice a vertically striped shield would be described as "[[Pale (heraldry)|paly]]", not "paleways", and it would not have had an odd number of stripes. A more technically proper [[blazon]] would have been ''argent, six pallets gules ...'' (six red stripes on a white field), but the phrase used was chosen to preserve the reference to the 13 original states.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theheraldrysociety.com/members-arms/buchanan-boardman-charles-edward-sean/ |title=Members' Roll of Arms: Buchanan-Boardman, Charles Edward Sean |website=theheraldrysociety.com |date=April 3, 2018 |access-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817200821/https://www.theheraldrysociety.com/members-arms/buchanan-boardman-charles-edward-sean/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|escutcheon]] (shield) bears resemblance to the [[flag of the United States|United States flag]], with two exceptions in particular:
* The blue [[chief (heraldry)|chief]] contains no stars (although certain derivative arms do, e.g. the chief of the [[Seal of the United States Senate|arms of the United States Senate]]).
* The outermost stripes are [[white]], not red, to avoid violation of the [[rule of tincture]], as the chief is blue.

The [[supporter]] of the shield is a [[bald eagle]] with its wings outstretched (or "[[attitude (heraldry)#Displayed|displayed]]", in [[heraldry|heraldic]] terms). From the eagle's perspective, it holds a bundle of 13 [[arrow]]s in its left [[Claw|talon]], and an [[olive branch]] in its right talon. Although not specified by law, the olive branch is usually depicted with 13 leaves and 13 olives. In its beak, the eagle clutches a scroll with the motto ''[[E pluribus unum]]'' ("Out of Many, One"). Over its head there appears a [[Glory (optical phenomenon)|glory]] with 13 [[star (heraldry)|mullets]] (stars) on a blue field.