Religion in the United States Calvinist heritage. The modern official motto of the United States of America, as established in a 1956 law signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, is "In God We Trust". The phrase first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864. According to a 2002 survey by the Pew Research Center, nearly 6 in 10 Americans said that religion plays an important role in their lives, compared to 33% in Great Britain, 27% in Italy, 21% in Germany, 12% in Japan, and 11% in France. The survey report stated that the results showed America having a greater similarity to developing nations (where higher
Motto of the European Union national motto of Indonesia since 1945 ("Bhinneka Tunggal Eka", in ancient Javanese) and on 27 April 2000 post-apartheid South Africa adopted a similar motto ("ikee:/xarra/ike") in "Xam" (an extinct Khoisan language) which also translates in English as "Unity in diversity". On 19 June 2000, at Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal, 24th President of the European Parliament Nicole Fontaine concluded her official opening speech with the introduction of the European Union motto ("Unité dans la diversité"): Since then this motto was used by several European officials during their speeches at Strasbourg, including President of European Commission Romano Prodi on 4 July