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Original Source of E PLURIBUS UNUM
Motto Carried in the Beak of the Bald Eagle on the Great Seal
The Latin motto "E Pluribus Unum" appeared on the title page of the annual volume of the Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer – next to a drawing of a hand holding a bouquet of different flowers.
The Gentleman's Magazine had been published monthly in London since 1731 and was well known to literate Americans in the 1770s. The annual volume with "E Pluribus Unum" at the bottom of its title page brought together the magazine's twelve editions from that year. It provided readers with lots of useful information.
This shows that America was originally likened to a bouquet of different flowers, where unity and individuality coexisted – as opposed to a "melting pot" that blended everyone together.
Floral print by John Bowles (1745)
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