Great Seal of the United States – Printed Flag

Choose Your Options

Every Great Seal of the United States Printed Flag is made to order, so tell us how you want it built. These are the choices.

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• Mounting: A pole hem is a sewn sleeve along the hoist edge that slides over an indoor or parade pole. A pole hem with fringe adds gold rayon fringe on three edges, the traditional ceremonial finish. Grommets are brass rings set into a canvas header, the standard finish for an outdoor flagpole.
• Single-sided or double-sided: A single-sided flag carries the design on the front only; the back is blank. A double-sided flag shows the design on both sides and is built one of three ways:
  • Double-reverse: one layer of fabric, printed on one side so the dye soaks through and the design shows on the back in reverse. The lightest build.
  • Double-paneled: two panels sewn back to back, so the design reads correctly on both sides. The heaviest build, and it needs the most wind to fly.
  • Single field, double seal: one field with the emblem on the front and a second emblem tacked to the back, so the seal reads correctly from either side without the weight of two panels.
• Printed construction: Acid dye bonds into the nylon fiber, so the color goes deep and stays bright outdoors. Every printed flag is lock stitched, the stronger interlocking stitch, on the seams and header. For appliqué and embroidery instead of print, see the sewn version of this flag.
• Size: 3x4 FT, 3x5 FT, 4x6 FT, 5x8 FT, 52x66 IN. For another size, give us the finished width and height you need.

Product Features

• Official Great Seal of the United States design: the Great Seal of the United States Printed Flag carries the Great Seal of the United States’ official emblem, reproduced to the agency’s design in the mounting and size you order.
• Printed construction: dye-printed on 200 denier nylon and lock stitched, so fine seal detail reproduces exactly and the color holds up in sun and rain.
• Nylon field: lightweight nylon that flies in a light breeze, sheds water and dries quickly.
• Built your way: single-sided or double-sided (double-reverse, double-paneled or single field double seal); pole hem, fringed pole hem or grommets; 3x4 FT, 3x5 FT, 4x6 FT, 5x8 FT, 52x66 IN.
• Made in the USA: every Great Seal of the United States flag we sell is made in the USA.
• Matched sets: order one flag or a set for every office, and the mounting and size will be the same on each.

Historical Background

Before it adjourned on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress named Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson a committee to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America. It took six years, two more committees and the work of 14 men before the Great Seal became a reality on June 20, 1782. Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, chose the best features of the earlier designs and gave the eagle prominence, replacing a crested imperial eagle with the American bald eagle. William Barton, a young Philadelphia lawyer versed in heraldry, refined the design, and Congress adopted Thomson's written description the same day he presented it.

Thomson first used the seal on September 16, 1782, on a document authorizing General Washington to negotiate an exchange of prisoners of war with the British. When the new government took over in 1789, custody passed to the Secretary of State, and Thomas Jefferson became the first of a long line of Secretaries of State to keep it. The reverse of the seal was created by law in 1782, but no die for it has ever been cut. Both sides appear on the back of the one-dollar bill, a design President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved and revised in 1935.

This flag shows the seal's coat of arms in full color on a dark blue disc: an American bald eagle with a striped shield on its breast, an olive branch and 13 arrows in its talons, a scroll reading E PLURIBUS UNUM, and a crest of 13 stars among clouds, ringed by the words THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Great Seal of the United States Flag: Symbolism at a Glance

• Bald eagle: The shield rests on the eagle's breast with no other supporters, to show that the states should rely on their own virtue.
• Shield: Thirteen red and white stripes for the original states, joined under a blue chief that represents Congress.
• Olive branch and 13 arrows: The power of peace and war, which the 1782 description placed in Congress.
• E PLURIBUS UNUM: Latin for "Out of many, one," the union of the 13 states.
• Constellation of 13 stars: A new nation taking its place and rank among other sovereign powers.
• Colors: White for purity and innocence, red for hardiness and valor, and blue for vigilance, perseverance and justice.