Our official motto

I thought the official US motto was E Pluribus Unum - Out of many, one. But no, was I ever wrong. That is the motto found on the scroll carried by the eagle in the Great Seal of the United States.

Just what is the official motto? Here's a hint:



In fact, according to the Family Research Council, on July 30th, 1956, forty-nine years ago this past weekend, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a joint resolution from Congress declaring "In God We Trust" the official motto of the United States. While the motto had been appearing on U.S. coins since 1864 it wasn't until 1956 that it was declared official and then appeared on paper money for the first time a year later. Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln, first saw the need to recognize our creator in 1861 by writing to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia that "No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense."

There's another paragraph or so at the Family Research Council website.