E pluribus unum is a phrase written in Latin, which means united in diversity, which was used as a national motto until 1956 and is inscribed on American coins, to refer to the 13 colonies that gave life to the nation. Yet the United States today can be seen as a divided nation.
E pluribus unum is the motto that appears on the Great Seal of the United States. This seal is used as the de facto emblem of the United States, appearing in particular on official documents such as passports. It also appears on theseals of the President, Vice President, Congress, and the Supreme Court (which are very close to the Great Seal)
E pluribus unum , literally “one from many” or, in a more direct translation, “From many, one” (correlation with the motto Unity is strength ). This motto, which first refers to the integration of the 13 independent colonies into a unified country, then took on additional socio-political significance, due to the pluralistic nature of American society, which was born out of immigration .
The motto was chosen by the first Great Seal committee in 1776 and the seal adopted with this motto (two other currencies, can be found on the reverse of the seal (the side not visible) Annuit cœptis “He / She approves this enterprise” and Novus Ordo Seclorum “New Order of the Centuries” in Latin ), by an act of the American Congress of 1782 1 . It was the painter Pierre-Eugène Ducimetière who initially suggested E pluribus unum .
This motto was considered the motto of the United States until 1956 when the United States Congress passed a law (HJ Resolution 396) adopting In God We Trust as its official motto. It nevertheless continued to appear on the coins of the United States.A similar motto – In varietate concordia (“Unity in diversity”) – was adopted by the European Union in 2000.E Pluribus Unum is also the motto of the Portuguese club Benfica Lisbon .
Origin of the phrase E pluribus unum
The sentence originates from Moretum , a poem attributed to Virgil but whose true author remains to this day unknown. The poem describes the making by a peasant of a food made from cheese, garlic and herbs. In the text, “ color est e pluribus unus ” describes the multitude of colors in one.It is also found in The Confessions of Saint Augustine (from 397 to 398) Book IV , describing friendship.
This motto was well known in American literature of the xviii th century. It appears in Gentleman’s Magazine , published monthly in Brixton, London, since 1731. The caption E pluribus unum was also used in the title of pages of annual volumes which contained a collection of the year of twelve editions of the magazine.
