Bald eagle 1782, the Continental Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States depicting a bald eagle grasping 13 arrows and an olive branch with its talons. The bald eagle appears on most official seals of the U.S. government, including the presidential seal, the presidential flag, and in the logos of many U.S. federal agencies. Between 1916 and 1945, the presidential flag (but not the seal) showed an eagle facing to its left (the viewer's right), which gave rise to the urban legend that the flag is changed to have the eagle face towards the olive branch in
Great Seal of the United States turn were based on Lossing's 1856 version. [[File:Pontormo - Cena in Emmaus - Google Art Project.jpg|130px|thumb|"Supper at Emmaus", a 1525 [[Jacopo Pontormo]] painting, contains the Eye of Providence in a triangle]] Some [[Masonic conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories]] state that the Great Seal shows a sinister influence by [[Freemasonry]] in the founding of the United States. Such theories usually claim that the [[Eye of Providence]] (found, in the Seal, above the pyramid) is a common Masonic emblem, and that the Great Seal was created by Freemasons. These claims, however, misstate the facts. While the [[Eye of Providence]] is today a common Masonic