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
Great Seal of the Irish Free State Full Powers, and not always on the latter. Lesser seals were used on lesser documents: The first use of the External Great Seal was not until 1937, for ratifying the Montreux Convention Regarding the Abolition of the Capitulations in Egypt. Successive governments minimised the use of monarch and the External Great Seal. The state typically conducted bilateral agreements at inter-government level rather than the nominally more prestigious head-of-state level, so that the Minister for External Affairs would use the internal Great Seal for any documents. After signing some multilateral treaties that would have required the External Great Seal for ratification,