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Culture

It’s Finally Official: Bald Eagle Is America’s National Bird

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A fun 7 MINUTE READ

When designing the Great Seal of the United States, the Founding Fathers wanted a symbol to convey the strength and independence of the new nation. So they chose the bald eagle.

On the seal — used to authenticate treaties and other official documents — the white-crowned eagle clutches an olive branch (representing peace) in one talon and arrows (representing war) in the other. The eagle faces the olive branch, symbolizing America’s preference for peace.

After the adoption of the seal on June 20, 1782, the bald eagle quickly spread through American culture as a symbol of freedom, patriotism and power , says Preston Cook, a collector of eagle memorabilia and author of American Eagle: A Visual History of Our National Emblem.

The majestic bird, with a wingspan of 1.8 to 2.3 meters (6 feet to 7.5 feet), can spot prey 5 kilometers (3 miles) away, making it a match for a country of natural grandeur and vast, wild landscapes.

The bald eagle has become a decorative motif for everything from furniture and textiles to metalwork. U.S. gold coins have been known as eagles since 1795. Eagle-inspired hood ornaments adorned classic American cars of the 1930s through the 1950s. Philadelphia, which served as the first U.S. capital, has adopted the eagle as its professional football team’s mascot.

Military color guard and Eagles mascot running on football field (© Al Bello/Getty Images)
Swoop, the mascot for the Philadelphia Eagles, leads a military color guard on to the field in honor of Veterans Day before a game against the Dallas Cowboys in Philadelphia. (© Al Bello/Getty Images)

The eagle as a symbol of power

Eagles have symbolized power since ancient times, when Roman legions decorated their battle flags with images of the raptors. The Founding Fathers chose the bald eagle to represent their nation because the bird is indigenous to North America, according to Jack E. Davis, author of The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird. But by the 20th century, bald eagles’ numbers in the wild had declined from habitat loss, illegal hunting and the pesticide DDT.

Conservation measures, including the U.S. government’s 1972 DDT ban, increased bald eagle populations. The species was removed from the endangered species list in 2007 and now lives in every U.S. state except Hawaii and in many areas of Canada as well.

The National Eagle Center , located in Wabasha, Minnesota, showcases bald eagles and highlights their connection to American values of freedom and courage. Visitors can meet live birds and, in the summer, take river cruises to spot bald eagles in their natural habitat.

Cook, the collector, donated some 40,000 eagle-related items to the National Eagle Center, including a drum from the U.S. Civil War painted with a bald eagle.

Civil War drum with eagle art (Courtesy of National Eagle Center)
Eagle art on a Civil War drum (Courtesy of National Eagle Center)

After years of researching the bald eagle’s ties to American culture, Cook was surprised to learn the bird had never been officially recognized as a national symbol.

Members of the U.S. Congress from his home state of Minnesota offered legislation he drafted to make the bald eagle the U.S. national bird. In December 2024, Congress unanimously passed the bill and it was signed into law.

Cook continues working with the National Eagle Center and with curator Alex Lien on bald eagle exhibits. The center is planning a new educational exhibit for the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026.

Eagles, especially bald eagles, “are in every aspect of American culture throughout the past 250 years,” Lien 

For the Silo, Lauren Monsen/ShareAmerica. Featured image via State Dept./S. Gemeny Wilkinson.

Politics

America Welcomes a New G20

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StateDept

Dec, 2025

Author: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Next year, the United States will host the world’s 20 largest economies for the first time since 2009. Coinciding with America’s 250th anniversary, the 2026 G20 will be a chance to recognize the values of innovation, entrepreneurship, and perseverance that made America great, and which provide a roadmap to prosperity for the entire world. We’ll showcase these values and more when we host the G20 Leaders’ Summit in December 2026 in one of America’s greatest cities, Miami, Florida.

Under President Trump’s leadership, the G20 will use four working groups to achieve progress on three key themes: removing regulatory burdens, unlocking affordable and secure energy supply chains, and pioneering new technologies and innovation. The first Sherpa and Finance Track meetings will be held in Washington, DC, on December 15-16, followed by a series of meetings throughout 2026. As the global economy confronts the changes driven by technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, and shakes off ideological preoccupations around green energy, the President is prepared to lead the way.

We will be inviting friends, neighbors, and partners to the American G20. We will welcome the world’s largest economies, as well as burgeoning partners and allies, to America’s table. In particular, Poland, a nation that was once trapped behind the Iron Curtain but now ranks among the world’s 20 largest economies, will be joining us to assume its rightful place in the G20. Poland’s success is proof that a focus on the future is a better path than one on grievances. It shows how partnership with the United States and American companies can promote mutual prosperity and growth.

The contrast with South Africa, host of this year’s G20, is stark.

South Africa entered the post-Cold War era with strong institutions, excellent infrastructure, and global goodwill. It possessed many of the world’s most valuable resources, some of the best agricultural land on the planet, and was located around one of the world’s key trading routes. And in Nelson Mandela, South Africa had a leader who understood that reconciliation and private sector driven economic growth were the only path to a nation where every citizen could prosper.

Sadly, Mandela’s successors have replaced reconciliation with redistributionist policies that discouraged investment and drove South Africa’s most talented citizens abroad. Racial quotas have crippled the private sector, while corruption bankrupts the state.

The numbers speak for themselves. As South Africa’s economy has stagnated under its burdensome regulatory regime driven by racial grievance, and it falls firmly outside the group of the 20 largest industrialized economies.

Rather than take responsibility for its failings, the radical ANC-led South African government has sought to scapegoat its own citizens and the United States. As President Trump has rightly highlighted, the South African government’s appetite for racism and tolerance for violence against its Afrikaner citizens have become embedded as core domestic policies. It seems intent on enriching itself while the country’s economy limps along, all while South Africans are subject to violence, discrimination, and land confiscation without compensation. Its former Ambassador to the United States was openly hostile to America. Its relationships with Iran, its entertainment of Hamas sympathizers, and cozying to America’s greatest adversaries move it from the family of nations we once called close.

The politics of grievance carried over to South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 this month, which was an exercise in spite, division, and radical agendas that have nothing to do with economic growth. South Africa focused on climate change, diversity and inclusion, and aid dependency as central tenets of its working groups. It routinely ignored U.S. objections to consensus communiques and statements. It blocked the U.S. and other countries’ inputs into negotiations. It actively ignored our reasonable faith efforts to negotiate. It doxed U.S. officials working on these negotiations. It fundamentally tarnished the G20’s reputation.

For these reasons, President Trump and the United States will not be extending an invitation to the South African government to participate in the G20 during our presidency. There is a place for good faith disagreement, but not dishonesty or sabotage.

The United States supports the people of South Africa, but not its radical ANC-led government, and will not tolerate its continued behavior. When South Africa decides it has made the tough decisions needed to fix its broken system and is ready to rejoin the family of prosperous and free nations, the United States will have a seat for it at our table. Until then, America will be forging ahead with a new G20.

Marco Rubio was sworn in as the 72nd secretary of state on January 21, 2025. The secretary is creating a Department of State that puts America First.

Culture

DTCare Reports Monumental Cleanup Task Following Deadly Beirut Explosion

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August, 2020 (Beirut, Lebanon) – Two weeks after a devastating blast in Beirut’s port area that killed close to 200 people and injured thousands more, cleanup efforts are still underway. According to locals on the ground working with American NGO, DTCare, they’ve barely scratched the surface of the monumental task of cleanup, and are now facing the looming threat of a COVID-19 shutdown. 

The DTCare Lebanon ground team, in coordination with their United States office, was among the first American NGO on the scene following the deadly explosion on August 4th. The organization had been in Lebanon developing an NGO to help Syrian refugees, and because of their close proximity, they were some of the first responders to the scene, able to mobilize and provide aid to the people of Beirut the same night of the blast.  

The DTCare team on the ground coordinated with the Municipality before the start of the cleanup mission and were allocated a specific landfill just 8 Kilometers away from the cleaning locations. Over the course of seven days, the DTCare team has cleared 200 tons of debris a day (1,000 tons) from the narrow streets of Beirut, a challenge considering the near-constant traffic paralyzing the mobility and speed necessary for machinery and volunteers.  

The blast destroyed a major grain silo, which is critical considering Lebanon imports a majority of their wheat. To help cope with the food scarcity, the DTCare team is distributing 10 rations, daily, to families affected by the blast. Currently, they have been able to distribute 55 food rations, with each ration capable of feeding a family of four for a period of three months. Items included in the DTCare ration box include rice, flour, sugar, salt, tuna, oil, mushrooms, beans, chickpeas, and local grains other than wheat.

For the mission, DTCare partnered with the Contingency Operations Group (COG), which has been set up as a special purpose vehicle for any and all matters with US Corporations represented in Lebanon, helping facilitate all of their business interests in the region. Being the first US organization to jump to the rescue of Lebanon in this time of crisis by sending funds, products and support related to the relief effort, DTCare gained COG’s trust, attention and priority. Their independent status has allowed them to be successful in their efforts, as they remain free of ties to specific religious or political affiliations. 

COG team members have served and supported the US troops who were deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq under the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) from 2001 and through the extent of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 2003 to 2010. DTCare’s management team is very well versed in US defense contracting and State Department operations in the region, following all policies, procedures, regulations and, most importantly, transparency and compliance.

Although the operation is a small dent in the overall relief effort, the DTCare team has been incredibly effective and efficient in their mission, and will remain engaged for the duration of the cleanup effort. Currently, the team is racing to do as much as possibly before the rainy season arrives in October. DTCare predicts the cleanup effort to last between 3 to 5 months in total, weather permitting. For the Silo, Lainya Magaña.