"Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord" - Psalm 33:12
“In God We Trust” has been our national motto since the 1864. Minted on our coins and later, much later, 1956 printed on our paper money.
Many see this as proof that America was founded on and continues to embrace Judeo-Christian values.
Even on our currency, we honor God. “Annuit Coeptis” means, “God has favored our undertaking" and “E Pluribus Unum” means “Out of many, one.”
However …
Have you ever really looked at the one-dollar bill and thought about all of those weird symbols on the cotton and linen currency? If you have, you probably wonder why so many strange representations appear on one of the world's most potent symbols, currency highly emblematic of the country. Are there symbols that actually oppose Judeo-Christian ideals on the bill? And, if so, how did they end up on the United States dollar?
Now, I'm not one to delve into conspiracy theories and hidden Masonic meanings, but I still want to know the truth about these seemingly foreign references. Maybe a true understanding would allow me to believe more in that “almighty dollar” as a meaningful symbol of the ethos of the American Dream and all the consumerism and commodification that comes with it.
First of all, let's examine some history of the greenback. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. To finance the American Revolution, the Continental Congress printed the new nation's first paper money. Known as "continentals," the fiat money notes were issued in such quantity they led to inflation, which, though mild at first, rapidly accelerated as the war progressed. Eventually, people lost faith in the notes, and the phrase "Not worth a continental" came to mean "utterly worthless."
The paper dollar we commonly know - United States one-dollar bill ($1) – has been the lowest value denomination of United States paper currency since the discontinuation of U.S. fractional currency notes in 1876. An image of the first U.S. president (1789–1797), George Washington, based on the Athenaeum Portrait, a 1796 painting by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse, and the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse
The one-dollar bill has the oldest overall design of all U.S. currency currently being produced (The current two-dollar bill obverse design dates from 1928, while the reverse appeared in 1976). The obverse design of the dollar bill seen today debuted in 1963 (the reverse in 1935) when it was first issued as a Federal Reserve Note (previously, one dollar bills were Silver Certificates).
According to the official answer about the “eye and pyramid” symbols on the back of the one-dollar bill, the U.S. Department of the Treasury explains …
“The eye and the pyramid shown on the reverse side of the one-dollar bill are in the Great Seal of the United States. The Great Seal was first used on the reverse of the one-dollar Federal Reserve note in 1935. The Department of State is the official keeper of the Seal.
“They believe that the most accurate explanation of a pyramid on the Great Seal is that it symbolizes strength and durability. The unfinished pyramid means that the United States will always grow, improve and build.
“In addition, the 'All-Seeing Eye' located above the pyramid suggests the importance of divine guidance in favor of the American cause.
“The inscription ANNUIT COEPTIS translates as 'He (God) has favored our undertakings,' and refers to the many instances of Divine Providence during our Government's formation. In addition, the inscription NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM translates as 'A new order of the ages,' and signifies a new American era.
(“Portraits & Designs.” U.S. Department of the Treasury. Resource Center. Last Updated: June 15, 2018.)
The Seal
The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men (including Thomas Jefferson and John Adams) design a Seal. It took four years and two more committees to accomplish this task and yet another two years to get it approved. It wasn’t until June 13, 1782 that Charles Thompson, Secretary of Congress, made the final submission. He incorporated elements from all three committees.
The National Foundation of Patriotism says …
“A Revolutionary American creation, the Great Seal is a unique combination of natural elements (eagle, olive branch, stars, cloud, light rays, eye) and universal symbols (pyramid, arrows, shield).
“If you look at the left-and circle of the Great Seal, you will see a pyramid. This pyramid was not a part of the proposals for the Great Seal until the third committee, and it was NOT suggested by Jefferson, Franklin, or Adams. Charles Thompson said the pyramid represented “Strength and Duration.” Furthermore, Francis Hopkinson, a literary man of letter, is credited with being the first to use the pyramid on the American money …
“The Pyramid is the uncapped, again signifying that we were not even close to being finished (frequently depicted as having 13 steps for the original states). Inside the capstone you have the disembodied, all-seeing eye, said to be ancient symbol for divinity (which Thomson believed had acted “in favor of the American cause”). It was Franklin’s belief that one man couldn’t do it alone, but a group of men, with the help of God, could do anything. His committee wanted the seal to include some symbol of divine providence and discussed a variety of themes – including the children of Israel in the Wilderness.”
(“About the Dollar Bill. The National Foundation of Patriotism. www.nfop.org.)
Historical Note:
Speaking of Jefferson, he also wanted to go with Biblical imagery, in his case wanting a depiction of the Israelites wandering through the wilderness, with a cloud and a pillar of fire guiding them – an interesting choice for a man who once wrote his own version of the Bible that got rid of all the supernatural elements, among other parts he didn’t hold with.
Weird Conspiracy Connections
Many conspiracy theorists are convinced that the Eye of Providence is a reference to the order of the Freemasons. Hannah Irvine in Ranker shares that many have also pointed out its striking resemblance to the symbol of the Illuminati. Despite this, the eye in the triangle was a common symbol for the Holy Trinity at the time and, in a predominantly Christian society, it would have made sense to design the dollar bill accordingly.
(Hannah Irvine. “Here Is What Every Symbol On The Dollar Bill Really Means.” Ranker. November 3, 2020.)
It was President Franklin Roosevelt and Henry Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture, who decided to start printing the Great Seal on paper money in 1934. Coincidentally, they were both Freemasons and favored the design due to its reference to the Masonic symbol of the Great Architect of the Universe. Irvine writes that others would argue that the Freemasons didn't start using a similar symbol until 10 years after the first Washington was printed – Not to mention, the design itself wasn't created by a Freemason.
According to Bill Ellis, a professor of American Studies at Pennsylvania State University, the pyramids signify human structures that have lasted throughout the ages. As mentioned before, the pyramid and eye didn't have their own place until FDR removed it from the other half of Great Seal in 1935. Roosevelt also liked the ring of a "new world order," to go along with his New Deal.
Irvine says, “The folklorish undertones here signaled to conspiracy theorists that the U.S. government had been taken over by evil spirits. Other creative decodings of the pyramid and eye include the traces of a hexagram that imply even deeper meanings.”
(Hannah Irvine. “Here Is What Every Symbol On The Dollar Bill Really Means.” Ranker. November 3, 2020.)
Historical Note:
Steven C. Bullock – professor of history at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he was a recipient of the Trustees' Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Scholarship, and Fulbright Lecturer – says that the three points of the triangle on the one-dollar bill represent the Christian mythology of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The rays of light are stand-ins for holiness and divinity. If you go even farther back in history, you can find an eye being used in ancient Egyptian times. For example, the "Eye of Horus" belongs to Horus, the sky god, often depicted as a falcon. It's a falcon's eye. Fast-forward to the founding of the United States, and it ended up on the back end of the Great Seal on top of a pyramid …
It was a few years later (1797) that the Freemasons started using the eye. Some think it's the Masons' way of projecting their own watchful power, but it's actually the opposite. On top of that, the Freemason version uses a cloud above the eye instead of a triangle around it.
Conclusion
I do not believe the symbols on the one-dollar bill are anything other than that – symbols – images that represent something immaterial. To me, it is evident the original design had roots in both Christian and world meaning. The Founding Fathers designed the seal and included these symbols to represent a nation under God. However, the ingenuity of their inclusion of images like the pyramid and the all-seeing eye strengthened the people's faith in the currency – paper legal tender.
Here's what the Federal Reserve has to say:
"According to the Legal Tender Statute (section 5103 of title 31 of the U.S. Code), United States coins and currency (including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. This means that all U.S. money, as identified above, when tendered to a creditor legally satisfies a debt to the extent of the amount (face value) tendered....However, no federal law mandates that a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services not yet provided."
And, throughout the history of our country, so much depends upon that promise. Using paper to stand in for physical goods is quite an idea. This exchange of paper was the origin of the modern global financial markets.
At one time, we had gold and silver standard behind the paper: the piece of paper money was simply a convenient way of "holding" that particular bit of gold or silver. Under the gold or silver standard, you could actually take your paper money to the bank and exchange it for an amount of gold or silver based on an exchange rate set by the government.
Up until 1971, the United States operated under that standard, which since 1946 had been governed by the Bretton Woods system, which created fixed exchange rates that allowed governments to sell their gold to the United States treasury at the price of $35 per ounce. Believing that this system undermined the U.S. economy, President Richard M. Nixon took the country off the gold standard in 1971. And, since Nixon's ruling, the United States has operated on a system of fiat money, which means our currency is not tied to any other commodity.
The real symbol? The one-dollar bill itself. It no longer “stands for” precious metals like gold or silver. It symbolizes trust that allows us to build our homes, pay our bills, purchase our needs and wants … and yes, pursue the American Dream of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” If you don't don't believe that, try existing in a barter system.
Let's hope God – whatever your conception of a Supreme Being may be – continues to favor our undertakings. And, let's hope He continues to help us pay for our blessings by allowing us to spend those one-dollar bills with a complicated anatomy of 75% cotton and 25% linen paper containing red and blue fibers, security threads, and watermarks that account for about 45% of all Bureau of Engraving and Printing production. Amen.
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