Seal of the United States Senate its talons, surrounded by the words "United States Senate," is commonly used by Senate offices and is often displayed on items sold in the Senate gift shop. Even more commonly seen perhaps is a version of the Great Seal of the United States (which also depicts an eagle clutching arrows and an olive branch in its claws) surrounded by a similar inscription. These often appear on Senate web pages, on podiums when senators speak, and other situations. The House of Representatives also uses similar designs for their unofficial seals, and since the United States Congress as a whole does not
Great Seal of the Realm held the seal only until 1656, when Cromwell nominated William Steele, Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in England, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In 1688, while attempting to flee to France, James II destroyed his Great Seal, apparently by throwing it into the River Thames in the hope that the machinery of government would cease to function. James's successors, William III and Mary II, used the same seal matrix in their new Great Seal. This may have been a deliberate choice, in order to imply the continuity of government. A new obverse was created, but the reverse was crudely