I've always wondered this but could never find an answer: the early American coins that have an eagle on the reverse have the eagle facing the arrows, the modern coins along with the us seal has the eagle facing the olive branches. Anyone know why this is?
"In the new Coat of Arms, Seal and Flag, the Eagle not only faces to its right – the direction of honor – but also toward the olive branches of peace which it holds in its right talon. Formerly the eagle faced toward the arrows in its left talon – arrows, symbolic of war." http://www.greatseal.com/symbols/presidentseal.html http://www.greatseal.com/symbols/olives.html
Basically the design has been changed over the years to signify the mood of the country at the time. It can go one way for time, then it might be changed back. And later, changed yet again.
This was an error on their part. The eagle has always faced to its right and the olive branch has always been in the eagles right talon on the official great seal. However on the early heraldic eagle reverse half dime through eagle the design shows the arrows in the right talon. This would be considered an error in Heraldry because it indicates an official preference for war over peace. What surprises me is that the error was not corrected but instead was allowed to continue for years. Such symbolism was much more important to people back then and the average person would have understood the heraldic meaning of the design.
Hmm - I had to go look it up to make sure. The Great Seal Of The United States has not changed since 1782. However, the Seal Of The President Of The United States, which is very similar, has changed a few times in regard to whether the eagle faces the arrows or the olive branch. For reference - http://www.snopes.com/history/american/turnhead.asp and - http://www.heraldica.org/topics/usa/usheroff.htm#great-seal
