Annuit cœptis

The reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States

Annuit cœptis ( /ˈænjuːɪt ˈsɛptɨs/; in classical Latin: [ˈannwɪt ˈkojptɪs]) is one of two mottos on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. (The second motto is Novus ordo seclorum; another motto appears on the obverse side of the Great Seal: E pluribus unum).^[1]

Etymology

Taken from the Latin words annuo (third-person singular present or perfect annuit), "to nod" or "to approve", and coeptum (plural coepta), "commencement, undertaking", it is literally translated, "He approves (has approved) of the undertakings".^[2]

On the Great Seal

In 1782, Sam Adams created the third Congress and appointed a design artist, William Barton of Philadelphia, to bring a proposal for the national seal.^[3] For the reverse, Barton suggested a thirteen layered pyramid underneath the Eye of Providence. The mottos which Barton chose to accompany the design were Deo Favente ("with God's favor", or more literally, "with God favoring") and Perennis ("Everlasting"). The pyramid and Perennis motto had come from a $50 Continental currency bill designed by Francis Hopkinson.^[4]

Detail of the US one-dollar bill.

Barton's Design with Deo Favente and Perennis.

Barton explained that the motto alluded to the Eye of Providence: "Deo favente which alludes to the Eye in the Arms, meant for the Eye of Providence."^[5] For Barton, Deus (God) and The Eye of Providence were the same entity.

When designing the final version of the Great Seal, Charles Thomson (a former Latin teacher) kept the pyramid and eye for the reverse side but replaced the two mottos, using Annuit Cœptis instead of Deo Favente (and Novus Ordo Seclorum instead of Perennis). When he provided his official explanation of the meaning of this motto, he wrote:

"The Eye over it [the pyramid] and the motto Annuit Cœptis allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in favor of the American cause."^[6]

Annuit Cœptis is translated by the U.S. State Department,^[7] The U.S. Mint, and the U.S. Treasury^[8] as, "He [God] has favored our undertakings" brackets in original.

T. Jeremy Gunn has written that a more accurate translation is "our undertakings have been favored," leaving the reader to infer who or what was responsible for favoring such undertakings. Gunn maintains that had Congress wished to include the literal word "God" the correct translation would have been, "Deo Favente."^[9]

Annuit cœptis and the other motto on the reverse of the Great Seal, Novus ordo seclorum, can both be traced to lines by the Roman poet Virgil. Annuit cœptis comes from the Aeneid, book IX, line 625, which reads, Jupiter omnipotens, audacibus annue cœptis.^[10] It is a prayer by Ascanius, the son of the hero of the story, Aeneas, which translates to, "Jupiter Almighty, favour [my] bold undertakings."

References