Editing Great Seal of the United States (section)

===Conspiracy theories===
[[File:Pontormo - Cena in Emmaus - Google Art Project.jpg|130px|thumb|''Supper at Emmaus'', a 1525 [[Jacopo Pontormo]] painting, contains the [[Eye of Providence]] in a triangle.]]
Some [[Masonic conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories]] state that the Great Seal shows a sinister influence by [[Freemasonry]] in the founding of the United States. Such theories usually claim that the [[Eye of Providence]] (found, in the Seal, above the pyramid) is a common Masonic emblem, and that the Great Seal was created by Freemasons.<ref>for example: [http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/All_Seeing_Eye.htm conspiracyarchive.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615073829/http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/All_Seeing_Eye.htm |date=June 15, 2010 }}, and [http://www.masoncode.com/The%20Great%20Seal.htm www.masoncode.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620010304/http://www.masoncode.com/The%20Great%20Seal.htm |date=June 20, 2006 }}</ref> These claims, however, misstate the facts.

While the Eye of Providence is today a common Masonic motif, this was not the case during the 1770s and 1780s, when the Great Seal was designed and approved. According to David Barrett, a Masonic researcher, the Eye seems to have been used only sporadically by the Masons in those decades, and was not adopted as a common Masonic symbol until 1797, several years after the Great Seal of the United States had already been designed.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/masonic_dollar.html |title = Masonic Dollar? |publisher = Freemasons-freemasonry.com |access-date = December 26, 2013 |archive-date = December 19, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131219114521/http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/masonic_dollar.html |url-status = live }}</ref> The Eye of Providence was, on the other hand, a fairly common Christian motif throughout the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]], and was commonly used as such in [[Europe]] as well as America throughout the 18th century.<ref name="eagleshieldeye"/><ref name="Center for Studies on New Religions-Great Seal">{{cite web |url = http://www.cesnur.org/2005/mi_illuminati_en.htm |work = Angels & Demons from the Book to the Movie FAQ |title = Do the Illuminati Really Exist? |publisher = Center for Studies on New Religions |access-date = May 25, 2009 |archive-date = January 28, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220128144103/https://www.cesnur.org/2005/mi_illuminati_en.htm |url-status = live }}</ref> It is still found in Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches, and it symbolizes the [[Holy Trinity]] (the triangle) and God's [[omniscience]] (the eye) surrounded by rays of glory, denoting God's [[divinity]].

Furthermore, contrary to the claims of these conspiracy theories, the Great Seal was not created by Freemasons.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330388,00.html |title = Associated Press story, Tuesday, February 12, 2008 as hosted by |publisher = Foxnews.com |date = February 12, 2008 |access-date = December 26, 2013 |archive-date = April 27, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130427134056/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330388,00.html |url-status = live }}</ref> While [[Benjamin Franklin]] was a Mason, he was the only member of any of the various Great Seal committees definitively known to be so, and his ideas were not adopted.<ref>Hodapp, Christopher; Freemasons for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, 2005, pp 155–156</ref> Of the four men whose ideas were adopted, neither [[Charles Thomson]], [[Pierre du Simitière]] nor [[William Barton (heraldist)|William Barton]] was a Mason and, while [[Francis Hopkinson]] has been alleged to have had Masonic connections, there is no firm evidence to support the claim.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.greatseal.com/mythamerica/notmasonic.html|title=Is the Pyramid & Eye a Masonic Symbol on the Great Seal and Dollar Bill?|last=MacArthur|first=John D.|website=greatseal.com|access-date=August 5, 2018}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/TheEagleAndTheShield/The%20Eagle%20and%20the%20Shield#page/n575/mode/2up ''The Eagle and the Shield'', p. 529]</ref><ref>{{cite web |author = Design by King & Associates (www.edking.com) |url = http://www.msana.com/eyeinpyramid.asp |title = the Masonic Service Association |publisher = Msana.com |access-date = December 26, 2013 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131115112010/http://msana.com/eyeinpyramid.asp |archive-date = November 15, 2013 |df = mdy-all }}</ref>