A History of the Bald Eagle for the United States Coat of Arms and Money

It is said that the Bald Eagle became part of the emblem and national coat of arms that represents freedom for the United States because at one of the first battles during the onset of the American Revolution, noise from the battle below had awakened some eagles in the early morning. They flew from their nests and circled over the heads of the fighting soldiers, all the while venting raucous cries. “They are shrieking for freedom,” said the patriots. Since ancient times, the eagle has been considered a sign of strength – Roman legions used the bird as their standard or symbol.

The eagle is highly revered by many Native American cultures. There are special eagle dances, ceremonies, and societies. Native Americans consider the Bald and Golden Eagles to be sacred, as eagles are the highest-flying birds and are seen as being nearer to the creator. The eagle as a symbol signified courage, wisdom, strength, higher consciousness, and its purpose was as a messenger of prayer to (and the bringer of messages from) the creator…

…Given the role Native Americans had in helping the original colonialists survive, as well as contributing to the underlying principles of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, esoteric connections developed that influenced the founding fathers in their search for an official seal of a new nation. I suspect Native American reverence for the eagle was one such influence, and the Bald Eagle was selected for its long life, strength, courage, and majestic appearance.

The Native American Source for the Declaration and the Constitution… “All well and good. Certainly ancient Greece and Rome, medieval England, and the minds of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and others were vital contributions to the ideas of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But one source, hiding in plain sight, so to speak, is frequently overlooked. This is the contribution of native Americans, particularly the Iroquois, to the mix. The Iroquois constitution, called the Great Law of Peace, or Gayanashagowa, contains many echoes of our Constitution, and in a number of respects, is more advanced in thought than the Constitution that resulted from the Convention of 1787. This is not something I made up. If you read the original documents from the time, from people like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, you will easily see that they deeply acknowledged their debt to the Iroquois and other Native Americans. It’s no accident that the protestors at the Boston Tea Party chose to disguise themselves as Indians. They did this out of respect for the democratic and free nature of Indian society – something they were trying to establish in the face of what they considered British tyranny…” – Ira Krakow

Shortly after the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress began the work of identifying an emblem and national coat of arms to give visible evidence of a sovereign nation and a free people with high aspirations and great hopes for the future. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams took on the first attempt of developing a design…

Read the full article by TraderStef at CrushTheStreet – originally published on Mar. 27, 2018.

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