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 United States engraver added a border of [[acanthus (genus)|acanthus]] leaves. Depicting an eagle with a [[Crest (feathers)|crest]] is typical in heraldry, but is at odds with the official blazon of the seal which specifies a bald eagle (which have no crests). The blazon does not specify the arrangement of the stars (which were randomly placed in Thomson's sketch) nor the number of points; the engraver chose six-pointed stars (typical of English heraldry), and arranged them in a larger six-pointed star. No drawing made by the engraver has ever been found, and it is not known if Thomson provided any. This first die