Seal of the President of the United States State. The envelope has a small circular red wax seal, with the upper portion appearing to have a circle of cloud puffs similar to the Great Seal, with rays of a glory. However, the rest of the design has been obliterated, so nothing further can be determined, and no other uses of this seal have been found. The documented history begins in 1850, when a seal was made after a crude drawing submitted by President Fillmore. It depicted an eagle "displayed with wings inverted", i.e. with its wingtips down, holding an olive branch and three arrows in its talons. The
Great Seal of the United States foreign governments. The seal was once required on presidential [[proclamation]]s, and on some now-obsolete documents such as [[exequatur]]s and [[Mediterranean pass]]ports. On July 4, 1776, the same day that independence from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] was declared by the thirteen states, the [[Second Continental Congress|Continental Congress]] named the first committee to design a Great Seal, or national emblem, for the country. Similar to other nations, the United States needed an official symbol of sovereignty to formalize and seal (or sign) international treaties and transactions. It took six years, three committees, and the contributions of fourteen men before the [[Congress