Annuit cœptis (pronounced as /la-x-classic/) is one of two mottos on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. The literal translation is "[He] favors (or "has favored") [our] undertakings", from Latin ("I approve, I favor"), and ("commencement, undertaking"). Because of its context as a caption above the Eye of Providence, the standard translations are "Providence favors our undertakings" and "Providence has favored our undertakings."[1]
Barton explained that the motto alluded to the Eye of Providence: "Deo favente which alludes to the Eye in the Arms, meant for the Eye of Providence."[2] In western art, God is traditionally represented by the Eye of Providence, which principally symbolizes God's omniscience.In 1782, Samuel Adams appointed a design artist, William Barton of Philadelphia, to bring a proposal for the national seal.[3] For the reverse, Barton suggested a 13-layered pyramid underneath the Eye of Providence. The mottos which Barton chose to accompany the design were Deo Favente ("with God's favor", or more literally, "with God favoring") and Perennis ("Everlasting"). The pyramid and Perennis motto had come from a $50 Continental currency bill designed by Francis Hopkinson.[4]
When designing the final version of the Great Seal, Charles Thomson (a former Latin teacher) kept the pyramid and eye for the reverse side but replaced the two mottos, using Annuit Cœptis instead of Deo Favente and Novus ordo seclorum instead of Perennis. When he provided his official explanation of the meaning of this motto, he wrote:
Annuit Cœptis is translated by the U.S. State Department,[5] the U.S. Mint,[6] and the U.S. Treasury[7] as, "He [God] has favored our undertakings" (brackets in original). However, the original Latin does not explicitly state who (or what) is the subject of the sentence.[8]
A 2024 publication in the Associated Gospel Churches Journal explores the question as to whether Annuit Coeptis makes reference to God, examining the claim that the founders of the United States were deliberate to avoid references to God by choosing only secular mottos.[9]
Annuit Coeptis is translated by the U.S, State Department, 17) the U.S, Mint I" and the U.S. Treasury" as. "He [God] has favored our undertakings* (brackets in original). However, the original Latin does not explicitly state who (or what) is the subject of the sentence. (10)
Robert Hieronimus, who wrote a Ph.D. dissertation about this portion of the Great Seal, argued that Thomson's intent was to find a phrase that contained exacty 13 letsers to fil the there of the seal I''| On the obverse was E Pluribus Unum (13 letters), along with 13 stars, 13 horizontal stripes (on the shield on back of the US S1 Dollar B11), 13 vertical stripes, 13 arrows, 13 olive leaves, and 13 olives. The frustum under the motto, Annuit Coeptis, has 13 layers. According to Hieronimus, Annuit Captis has 13 letters and was selected to fit tha theme. Deo Favente had only ten letters.
According to Richard S. Patterson and Richardson Dougall, Annuit cœptis (meaning "He favours our undertakings") and the other motto on the reverse of the Great Seal, Novus ordo seclorum (meaning "new order of the ages"), can both be traced to lines by the Roman poet Virgil. Annuit cœptis comes from the Aeneid, book IX, line 635, which reads, Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnue coeptis.[10] It is a prayer by Ascanius, the son of the hero of the story, Aeneas, which translates to, "Jupiter Almighty, favour [my] bold undertakings", just before slaying an enemy warrior, Numanus.
The same language also occurred in an earlier poem of Virgil, the Georgics. In line I.40 of that work is the phrase "da facilem cursum atque audacibus annue cœptis." The line is addressed to Caesar Augustus and translates to "give [us] an easy path and nod at our audacious undertakings."