Great Seal of the United States depicted a lion holding seven arrows representing their seven provinces. State currency may have provided further inspiration; a 1775 South Carolina bill showed a bundle of 13 arrows and a 1775 Maryland note depicted a hand with an olive branch of 13 leaves. [[File:US Great Seal Charles Thomson Preliminary Design.jpg|thumb|left|[[Charles Thomson|Thomson's]] drawing, the basis for the final seal]] For the reverse, Thomson essentially kept Barton's design, but re-added the triangle around the Eye of Providence and changed the mottos to "Annuit Cœptis" and "Novus Ordo Seclorum". Thomson sent his designs back to Barton, who made some final alterations. The stripes
Great Seal of the United States State, the term "Great Seal" refers to a physical mechanism which is used by the department to affix the seal to official government documents. This mechanism includes not only the die (metal engraved with a raised inverse image of the seal), but also the counterdie (also known as a [[Seal (emblem)#Seal design|counter-seal]]), the press, and cabinet in which it is housed. There have been several presses used since the seal was introduced, but none of the mechanisms used from 1782 through 1904 have survived. The seal, and apparently its press, was saved when [[Burning of Washington|Washington, D.C. was burned]] in