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This is Chris Flannery with the Claremont Institute.

I call this one the Great Seal.

Turning to the back of the American $1 bill, I behold on the right side the obverse and on the left side the reverse of the great seal of the

United States. I pause to mention that to heraldry experts the obverse is the front and the

reverse is the back of something.

Why bring up heraldry experts?

Because heraldry is the discipline of designing coats of arms,

armorial bearings and such things, and the great seal of the United States is a product of that art combined with the art of the statesman.

One's first thought is that coats of arms went out of fashion with the knights of the roundtable.

Not so.

A coat of arms is the official expression of sovereign authority,

and the American Revolutionaries turned their attention to the subject immediately

when they made the determination to fight for their independence.

On the very day July 4, 1776,

...