Great Seal of the United States 13, 1782, the Congress turned to its Secretary [[Charles Thomson]], and provided all material submitted by the first three committees. Thomson was 53 years old, and had been a Latin master at a Philadelphia academy. Thomson took elements from all three previous committees, coming up with a new design which provided the basis for the final seal. Thomson used the eagle—this time specifying an American [[bald eagle]]—as the sole supporter on the shield. The shield had thirteen stripes, this time in a [[Chevron (insignia)|chevron]] pattern, and the eagle's claws held an olive branch and a bundle of thirteen arrows. For
Great Seal of the United States [[United States Congress]] ordered "that the seal heretofore used by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be, and hereby is declared to be, the seal of the United States." The final design was a combination of elements provided by all three committees: The metallic die of the obverse side of the Great Seal is what actually [[Embossing (paper)|embosses]] the design onto documents. These dies eventually wear down, requiring replacements to be made. The current die is the seventh engraving of the seal, and the actual design on the dies has evolved over time. [[File:US Great Seal 1782 drawing.png|thumb|Drawing of