View source for E pluribus unum

{{Short description|Traditional motto of the United States}}
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{{redirect|Out of Many, One|the book by George W. Bush|Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants{{!}}''Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants''|the Tami Chynn album|Out of Many...One{{!}}''Out of Many...One''}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}}
[[File:Great Seal of the United States (obverse).svg|thumb|{{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} included in the [[Great Seal of the United States]], being one of the [[nation]]'s mottos at the time of the seal's creation]]
'''{{lang|la|E pluribus unum}}''' ({{IPAc-en|iː|_|ˈ|p|l|ɝ|ɪ|b|ə|s|_|ˈ|uː|n|əm}} {{respell|ee|_|PLUR|ih|bəs|_|OO|nəm}}, {{IPA|la-x-classic|eː ˈpluːrɪbʊs ˈuːnʊ̃|lang|link=yes}}, {{IPA|la|e ˈpluribus ˈunum|lang}}) ({{langnf|la||'''out of many, one'''}},<ref name=US-Treasury/><ref name=GreatSeal/> or 'one out of many)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/e+pluribus+unum|title=E Pluribus Unum 2|work=Collins English Dictionary: Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition|publisher=HarperCollins|access-date=2012-12-23}}</ref> is a traditional motto of the [[United States]], appearing on the [[Great Seal of the United States|Great Seal]] along with ''{{lang|la|[[Annuit cœptis]]}}'' (Latin for ''he approves the undertaking'') and ''{{lang|la|[[Novus ordo seclorum]]}}'' (Latin for ''new order of the ages'') which appear on the reverse of the Great Seal; its inclusion on the seal was suggested by [[Pierre Eugene du Simitiere]] and approved in an [[Act of Congress|act]] of the [[Congress of the Confederation]] in 1782.<ref name=GreatSeal>{{cite web|url=http://www.greatseal.com/mottoes/unum.html |title=E Pluribus Unum - Origin and Meaning of the Motto Carried by the American Eagle |publisher=Greatseal.com |date=2011-11-28 |access-date=2012-04-28}}</ref> While its status as national motto was for many years unofficial, {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} was still considered the ''de facto'' motto of the United States from its early history.<ref name="RSAL">{{cite book |last1=Bittker |first1=Boris |last2=Idleman |first2=Scott |last3=Ravitch |first3=Frank |date=2015 |title=Religion and the State in American Law |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=136 |isbn=9781107071827 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pduCCgAAQBAJ&q=%22e+pluribus+unum%22+1776+motto&pg=PA136}}</ref> Eventually, the U.S. Congress passed an act in 1956 (H. J. Resolution 396), adopting "[[In God We Trust]]" as the [[United States national motto|official motto]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/84/hjres396/text|title=Text of H.J.Res. 396 (84th): Joint resolution to establish a national motto of the United States (Passed Congress version) - GovTrack.us|website=GovTrack.us}}</ref>

That the phrase {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} has thirteen letters makes its use symbolic of the original [[Thirteen Colonies]] which rebelled against the rule of the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] and became the first thirteen states, represented today as the thirteen stripes on the [[Flag of the United States|American flag]].

[[File:SealOfTheUS Prototype.png|thumb|215px|right|Original 1776 design for the Great Seal by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere. The shields with 13 initials of the [[Thirteen Colonies|colonies]] surrounding symbols for the six origin nations England (rose), Scotland (thistle), Ireland (harp), Holland (the Netherlands) (lion), France (fleur-de-lis), and Germany (eagle) linked together with motto.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xL3J464zILcC&pg=PA58|page=58|title=Eagle's Plume: The Struggle to Preserve the Life and Haunts of America's Bald Eagle|first=Bruce E.|last=Beans|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1997|isbn=9780803261426|access-date=January 10, 2021}}</ref>]]
The meaning of the phrase originated from the concept that out of the union of the original Thirteen Colonies emerged a new single nation.<ref name="The Great Seal of the United States">{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/27807.pdf|title=The Great Seal of the United States|website=U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs|page=6|accessdate= 21 August 2025}}</ref> It is emblazoned across the [[scroll]] and clenched in the eagle's beak on the Great Seal of the United States.<ref name="The Great Seal of the United States"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xL3J464zILcC&q=pierre+designed+pluribus+unum+13+colonies+coming+together&pg=PA58|title=Eagle's Plume: The Struggle to Preserve the Life and Haunts of America's|first=Bruce|last=E. Beans|date=January 1997|publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=9780803261426|access-date=January 10, 2021}}</ref>

==Origin==
The 13-letter motto was suggested in 1776 by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere to the committee responsible for developing the seal. At the time of the [[American Revolution]], the phrase appeared regularly on the title page of the London-based ''[[The Gentleman's Magazine|Gentleman's Magazine]]'', founded in 1731,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/229387/The-Gentlemans-Magazine|title=The Gentleman's Magazine|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=[Title page] |journal=The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle |volume=46 |year=1776 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXfPAAAAMAAJ |via=Google Books }}</ref> which collected articles from many sources into one periodical. This usage in turn can be traced back to the London-based [[Huguenot]] [[Peter Anthony Motteux]], who had employed the adage for his ''The Gentleman's Journal, or the Monthly Miscellany'' (1692–1694). The phrase is similar to a Latin translation of a variation of [[Heraclitus]]'s tenth fragment, "The one is made up of all things, and all things issue from the one" ({{lang|grc|ἐκ πάντων ἓν καὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς πάντα}}). A variant of the phrase was used in "Moretum", a poem belonging to the ''Appendix Virgiliana'', describing (on the surface at least) the making of ''[[moretum]]'', a kind of herb and cheese spread related to modern [[pesto]]. In the poem text, {{lang|la|color est e pluribus unus}} describes the blending of colors into one. [[St Augustine]] used a variant of the phrase, {{lang|la|ex pluribus unum facere}} (make one out of many), in his ''[[Confessions (Augustine)|Confessions]]''.<ref>Book IV, section 8.13.</ref> But it seems more likely{{According to whom|date=November 2025}} that the phrase refers to [[Cicero]]'s paraphrase of Pythagoras in his ''[[De Officiis]]'', as part of his discussion of basic family and social bonds as the origin of societies and states, "When each person loves the other as much as himself, it makes one out of many ({{lang|la|unum fiat ex pluribus}}), as Pythagoras wishes things to be in friendship."<ref>{{cite book|title=De Officiis|url=https://archive.org/details/deofficiis47001gut|last1=Cicero|first1=Marcus Tullius|publisher=Project Gutenberg|location=Book 1, Section 56}}</ref>

While {{lang|la|Annuit cœptis}} and {{lang|la|Novus ordo seclorum}} appear on the reverse side of the Great Seal, {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} appears on the obverse side of the seal (designed by [[Charles Thomson]]), the image of which is used as the national emblem of the United States, and appears on official documents such as passports. It also appears on the [[seal of the president of the United States|seal of the president]], the [[seal of the vice president of the United States|vice president]], the [[United States Congress]], the [[United States House of Representatives]], the [[Seal of the United States Senate|United States Senate]], and the [[United States Supreme Court]].

==Usage on coins==
[[File:1807 half dollar rev.jpg|thumb|[[Draped Bust|Draped Bust half dollar]] (reverse), 1807]]
{{Coin image box 1 double
| header = [[Dime (United States coin)|Dime]] {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} engraving.
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| caption_left = '''Obverse''': Portrait of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], year and [[United States national motto|US national motto]] ([[In God We Trust]])
| caption_right = '''Reverse''': {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}}, olive branch, torch and oak branch, face-value and country
| width = 250
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}}
The first coins with {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} were dated 1786 and struck under the authorization of New Jersey by Thomas Goadsby and Albion Cox in [[Rahway, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Q. David Bowers |first=Q. David |last=Bowers |title=Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins |publisher=Whitman Publishing |year=2009 |page=129 |location=Atlanta}}</ref> The motto had no New Jersey linkage but was likely an available die that had been created by Walter Mould the previous year for a failed federal coinage proposal.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Walter |last1=Breen |title=Complete Encyclopedia of US and Colonial Coins |location=New York |publisher=FCI Press; Doubleday |year=1998 |page=78}}</ref> Mould was also authorized by New Jersey to strike state coppers with this motto and did so beginning in early 1787 in [[Morristown, New Jersey]]. Lt. Col. [[Seth Read]] of [[Uxbridge, Massachusetts]] was said to have been instrumental in having {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} placed on U.S. coins.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Coins/Pages/edu_faq_coins_portraits.aspx |title=Resource center faqs/coins accessed 2011-06-27 |publisher=Treasury.gov |access-date=2012-03-03}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2025}} Seth Read and his brother [[Joseph Read]] had been authorized by the Massachusetts General Court to mint coppers in 1786. In March 1786, Seth Read petitioned the [[Massachusetts General Court]], both the House and the Senate, for a franchise to mint coins, both copper and silver, and "it was concurred".<ref name="coins">{{cite web|url=http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/MA-Copper.intro.html|title=Massachusetts Coppers 1787-1788: Introduction|access-date=2007-10-09|publisher=University of Notre Dame|archive-date=November 8, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108015613/http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/MA-Copper.intro.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJUUAAAAYAAJ&q=Seth+Reed-+petition+to+mint+coins+in+Massachusetts&pg=RA1-PA107 |title=March, 1786 Petition to mint Massachusetts Coppers, source Google books |year=1916 |access-date=2012-03-03}}</ref> {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}}, written in capital letters, is included on most U.S. currency, with some exceptions to the letter spacing (such as the reverse of the [[Dime (United States coin)|dime]]). It is also embossed on the edge of the [[Dollar coin (United States)|dollar coin]]. (''See [[United States coinage]] and paper bills in circulation'').

According to the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury]], the motto {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} was first used on U.S. coinage in 1795, when the reverse of the [[half-eagle]] ($5 gold) coin presented the main features of the Great Seal of the United States. {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} is inscribed on the Great Seal's scroll. The motto was added to certain silver coins in 1798, and soon appeared on all of the coins made out of precious metals (gold and silver). In 1834, it was dropped from most of the gold coins to mark the change in the standard fineness of the coins. In 1837, it was dropped from the silver coins, marking the era of the Revised Mint Code. The [[Coinage Act of 1873]] made the inscription a requirement of law upon the coins of the United States. {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} appears on all U.S. coins currently being manufactured, including [[presidential dollar coins]] whose production started in 2007, where it is inscribed on the edge along with "In God We Trust" and the year and mint mark. After the revolution, [[Rahway, New Jersey]] became the home of the first national mint to create a coin bearing the inscription {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}}.

In a quality control error in early 2007, the [[Philadelphia Mint]] issued some one-dollar coins without {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} on the rim; these coins have since become collectibles.

The 2009 and 2010 [[Penny (United States coin)|pennies]] feature a new design on the back, which displays the phrase {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} in larger letters than in previous years.<ref name=US-Treasury>{{cite web |url= http://www.treasury.gov/about/budget-performance/strategic-plan/Pages/dlinks.aspx |title = E Pluribus Unum |publisher= treasury.gov |access-date=2012-03-29}}</ref>

==Other usages==

===U.S. government===
*Besides the United States Great Seal's obverse and most American coins, the motto appears over the tribune in the [[United States Senate chamber]], on the flags and seals of both the House of Representatives and the [[United States Senate|Senate]], the [[United States President|President]], the Supreme Court and the [[United States Army|Army]], and on the state flags of [[Michigan]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[North Dakota]], and [[Wisconsin]].

===Other countries' governments===
*It appears on the logo of the [[Shire of Boulia]], [[Queensland]], [[Australia]].
*The motto appears on the coat of arms of the city of [[Mongaguá]] in [[Brazil]].
*A variant of the motto, {{lang|la|unum e pluribus}}, is used by the [[Borough of Wokingham]] in [[Berkshire]], England.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/EasySiteWeb/GatewayLink.aspx?alId=236834 |title=The Wokingham Borough Coat of Arms |publisher=Wokingham Borough |access-date=2014-06-13 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
*This motto has also been used by the [[Scoutspataljon]], a professional infantry battalion of the [[Estonian Defence Forces]], since 1918.

===Sports===
*The motto appears on the logo of the [[United States Golf Association]].
*The motto is used on the emblem of the Portuguese sports club [[Sport Lisboa e Benfica]] since 1904 (initially by one of its predecessors, [[Sport Lisboa]]). Similarly to the Great Seal of the United States, the emblem has a [[shield (heraldry)|shield]] and an [[eagle (heraldry)|eagle]] on top of it serving as a [[crest (heraldry)|crest]] and holding a scroll with the motto (although the scroll is beneath the eagle).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oliveira |first1=Diogo Cardoso |last2=Alves |first2=José |date=2019-03-01 |title=A história de FC Porto e Benfica nos seus emblemas |trans-title=FC Porto and Benfica's histories in their emblems |url=https://www.publico.pt/2019/03/01/infografia/historia-fc-porto-benfica-emblemas-304 |url-status=live |journal=Público |language=Portuguese |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219213533/https://www.publico.pt/2019/03/01/infografia/historia-fc-porto-benfica-emblemas-304 |archive-date=2021-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Símbolos: Emblema do SL Benfica |trans-title=Symbols: SL Benfica's emblem |url=https://www.slbenfica.pt/pt-pt/instituicao/clube/historia/simbolos |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104071352/https://www.slbenfica.pt/pt-pt/instituicao/clube/historia/simbolos |archive-date=2024-01-04 |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=SL Benfica |language=Portuguese}}</ref>

===Arts and media===
*This motto was also used in [[Stanislaw Lem]]'s novel, ''Eden'' (cited by Doctor).
*"E Pluribus Unum" is a march by the composer [[Fred Jewell]], written in 1917 during [[World War I]].
*[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'s title character uses the motto to describe his (and Dorothy's) homeland of Kansas: the land of {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}}.
*[[Bugs Bunny]] misinterprets the motto at the end of ''[[Roman Legion-Hare]]'': "E pluribus [[uranium]]".
*"E unibus pluram" is the title of a 1996 essay by [[David Foster Wallace]] which appears in the collection ''[[A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again]]''.
*In 2001, following the [[September 11 attacks]], the [[Ad Council]] and [[Texas]] ad agency [[GSD&M]] launched a [[public service announcement]] in which ethnically diverse people say "[[I Am an American (2001 film)|I Am an American]]"; near the end of the PSA, a black screen shows and the phrase {{lang|la|E pluribus unum}} is seen with the English translation underneath.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ad Council Classics: "I am an American" |url=http://adcouncil.org/Our-Work/The-Classics/I-am-an-American |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402142630/http://www.adcouncil.org/Our-Work/The-Classics/I-am-an-American |archive-date=2012-04-02 |access-date=2024-12-30 |publisher=Ad Council/GSD&M}}</ref>
*Episode 6 of the [[Stranger Things season 3|third season]] of ''[[Stranger Things]]'' is titled "E Pluribus Unum". The title refers to the Mind Flayer, the season's antagonist, being one monster formed out of many bodies.
*''[[Pluribus (TV series)|Pluribus]]'' (stylized as PLUR1BUS) is an [[Apple TV (streaming service)|Apple TV]] [[science fiction]] [[television series]] created by [[Vince Gilligan]]. Its title refers to a [[hive mind]] formed by linking the minds of nearly the entire global population.
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Heráldica Mongaguá.png|The arms of Mongágua, Brazil
File:Scouts Battalion emblem.png|The logo of Estonian [[Scouts Battalion]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|United States}}
*[[Bhinneka Tunggal Ika]]
*[[List of Latin phrases]]
*[[List of national mottos]]
*[[List of U.S. state and territory mottos]]
*[[United we stand, divided we fall]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|E Pluribus Unum|E pluribus unum}}
{{wikiquote}}
*[https://www.si.edu/object/e-pluribus-unum-gazetteer-united-states-america:silgoi_68301 E Pluribus Unum]
*[https://greatseal.com/mottoes/unum.html Great Seal]

{{US currency and coinage}}
{{List of official United States national symbols}}

[[Category:Latin mottos]]
[[Category:National symbols of the United States]]
[[Category:National mottos]]