Annuit Cœptis

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Reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States

Annuit Cœptis is one of two mottos (the other being Novus Ordo Seclorum) on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. Taken from the Latin words annuo (to nod, approve) and cœpto (to begin, undertake), it literally means someone or something "has approved our beginnings". The unspecified subject is apparently the Eye of Providence, which the motto surrounds, and accordingly, the U.S. State Department gives the translation "He [God] has favored our undertakings"^{[#endnote_StateDepartment]} (brackets in original).

The motto is most commonly seen on the reverse side of the U.S. one dollar bill, which contains both sides of the Great Seal.

"Annuit Coeptis" and the other motto on the Great Seal, "Novus Ordo Seclorum", can both be traced to lines by the Roman poet Virgil. "Annuit Coeptis" comes from the Aeneid, book IX, line 625, which reads, "Jupiter omnipotens, audacibus annue coeptis." It is a prayer by the hero of the story, Aeneas, which translates to, "Jupiter omnipotent, favour [my] daring undertakings." Jupiter is the most powerful of the gods of Roman mythology.

References

1. ↑  U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs (2003). [The Great Seal of the United States]. Retrieved October 22, 2005.

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