Bald eagle about to launch / Andy Morffew, Wikimedia Commons
The Seal of the President of the United States came about after an executive order issued by then US president Dwight D. Eisenhower becoming effective 4 July 1960 which reads:
The Coat of Arms of the President of the United States shall be of the following design:
SHIELD: Paleways of thirteen pieces argent and gules, a chief azure ; upon the breast of an American eagle displayed holding in his dexter talon an olive branch and in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows all proper , and in his beak a white scroll inscribed " E PLURIBUS UNUM " sable .
CREST: Behind and above the eagle a radiating glory Or , on which appears an arc of thirteen cloud puffs proper, and a constellation of thirteen mullets argent.
The whole surrounded by white stars arranged in the form of an annulet with one point of each star outward on the imaginary radiating center lines, the number of stars conforming to the number of stars in the union of the Flag of the United States as established by chapter 1 of title 4 of the United States Code .
The Seal of the President of the United States shall consist of the Coat of Arms encircled by the words "Seal of the President of the United States."
The American eagle depicted here is more commonly known as a bald eagle. They once used to be quite populous in north America numbering around 300 000 to 500 000 in the early 18th century by one estimate .
By the 1950s, the species was almost completely wiped out, and was declared endangered. Numbers rebounded and in 1995, bald eagles were moved from “endangered” to “threatened”.
This week, a wind energy company was ordered to pay more than $8 million in fines and restitution after at least 150 eagles were killed over the past decade at its wind farms in eight states.
It’s a pity they did not listen to the Obama administration and obtain a permit which would have allowed them to legally kill 4 200 bald eagles in their wind turbines over 30 years.
Protecting the environment matters…
