Great Seal of the United States of this number is a common motif in the seal. The official description of the seal states that there should be thirteen stars in the "glory" above the eagle's head, thirteen stripes on the shield, and thirteen arrows in the eagle's talon. The initial description of the reverse specified thirteen [[step pyramid|levels to the pyramid]], and though the number was left out of the final version, all depictions typically still show thirteen levels. Also by custom, since 1885 there are thirteen leaves and thirteen olives on the olive branch. [[File:GreatSealPress.jpg|thumb|The press and cabinet, made in 1903]] In the Department of
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from England. Consequently, it became not unusual to place the personal custody of the great seal in the hands of a "vice-chancellor" or "keeper"; this, too, was the practice followed during a temporary vacancy in the chancellorship. This office gradually developed into a permanent appointment, and the lord keeper acquired the right of discharging all the duties connected with the great seal. He was usually, though not necessarily, a peer, and held office during the king's pleasure, he was appointed merely by delivery of the seal, and not, like the chancellor, by patent. His status was definitely fixed (in the