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
Seal of the Vice President of the United States whereas the presidential seal uses light blue. Because the vice presidential coat of arms does not have a ring of stars around it, the other elements are made relatively larger to fill the space, so when placed side-by-side the eagle on the vice presidential seal is noticeably larger than its presidential counterpart. In turn, the written designs of both the presidential and vice presidential coats of arms are also essentially the same as the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States as defined in 1782, though with a different arrangement of the stars, clouds, and glory than is