The Nation's Motto
In God We Trust
...became the Nation's Motto in 1956, but the phrase first appeared in American history in 1814 with Francis Scott Key's original version of the Star Spangled Banner, the last stanza of which read:
"And this be our motto: in God is our trust."
And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home o the brave."
The phrase "In God We Trust" began to appear on U.S. coinage during the days of the Civil War during a time of strong religious sentiment. After then secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received a number of religious appeals, he directed the Director of the Mint at Philadelphia in a letter dated Nov. 20, 1861:
"Dear Sir, No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His Defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.
You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition."
"In God We Trust" first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.
The phrase "In God We Trust" became the Nation's Motto nearly one hundreds years later during another time of strong religious sentiment. Congress officials adopted the Nation's Motto "In God We Trust" in 1956 during the era of Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union, a communist nation perceived as atheistic.
E Pluribus Unum
...was included in a version of the "Great Seal of the United States" proposed to Congress in 1776 by a committee of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The version of the Nation's Great Seal finally approved by Congress in 1782 included the phrase "E Pluribus Unum." The motto "E Pluribus Unum" was first used on U.S coinage in 1795. The general meaning of each Latin word is clear: Pluribus is related to the English word: "plural." Unum is related to the English word: "unit." The phrase "E Pluribus Unum" describes an action: Many uniting into one. An accurate translation of the motto is "Out of many, one."