The Great Seal of the United States

Obverse Side of the Great Seal The most prominent fea­ture is the American bald eagle supporting the shield, or escutcheon, which is composed of 13 red and white stripes, representing the original States, and a blue top which unites the shield and represents Congress. The motto, E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one), alludes to this union. The olive branch and 13 arrows denote the power of peace and war, which is exclusively vested in Congress. The constella­tion of stars denotes a new State taking its place and rank among other sovereign powers.

Reverse Side of the Great Seal The pyramid signifies strength and duration: The eye over it and the motto, Annuit Coeptis (He [God] has favored our undertakings), allude to the many interventions of Providence in favor of the American cause. The date underneath is that of the Declaration of Independence, and the words under it, Novus Ordo Seclorum (A new order of the ages), signify the beginning of the new American era in 1776.

The Great Seal on Display

The Great Seal is no longer portable as it was in Charles Thomson’s day. Although the seven Great Seals have had many homes and have been in the custody of 58 Secretaries of State since Thomas Jefferson first took the responsibility, only the 1904 seal seems to have found more or less perma­nent quarters.

In 1955, it was put on public display for the first time during a ceremo­ny in the Department of State lobby opening an exhibit on the history of the Great Seal, after which it was returned to the mezzanine where the public could view it.

On September 16, 1957, the 175th anniversary of the earliest known use of the seal, another public ceremony took place, and four documents were sealed by the Acting Secretary of State before television and movie cameras.

It was not until March 1961 that the Great Seal was placed in what everyone considered its first appropriate location—the Exhibit Hall of the Department. This hall is on the first floor, centered between the north and south open-air courts which lie straight ahead of the diplomatic entrance at 2201 C Street NW. There the Great Seal, the press, and the cabinet are on display today.

On June 15, 1982, Secretary of State Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr., hosted a ceremony commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Great Seal of the United States—June 20, 1982. This also was the inaugural for the new enclosure and exhibit in the Hall for the Great Seal.

***

«Большая Печать США» с 1935 года размещена на оборотной стороне банкноты $1. Слева изображение оборотной стороны печати, справа лицевой стороны.

GLOSSARY:

Coat of arms	Герб
Heraldry	Геральдика
The Eye of Providence	Око Провидения, Всевидящее Око
Bald eagle	Орлан (белоголовый)
Talon	Длинный коготь
Chevron design	В виде шеврона (нарукавного нашивного знака)
Obverse (side)	Аверс, лицевая сторона
Reverse (side)	Реверс, обратная сторона, изнанка
Blazon	Сущ.: геральд. герб, эмблема, описание герба/эмблемы Глаг.: геральд. описывать или изображать герб
Сhief	Верхняя часть щита (в данном случае – голубой прямоугольник, в который упираются чередующиеся белые и красные полосы)
Continental Congress	Континентальный Конгресс (1774-1781 гг. в 1776 принял Декларацию о независимости
Escutcheon	Щит герба, геральдический щит
Pale	Вертикальная полоса на щите
Ordinaries	Здесь: Геральдические фигуры
Paly	Геральд. совокупность чередующихся вертикальных полос
Die	Матрица; To cut a die – отлить матрицу
Counter-die	Нижняя матрица
Pendant seal	Навесная печать, привязываемая к документу
Skippet	Футляр для печати
Tassel	Кисточка
Treaty of Ghent	Гентский мирный договор, подписанный межу США и Великобританией 24 декабря 1814 года
Master die	Эталонная матрица
To affix a stamp	Скрепить печатью, поставить печать
Ceremonial communications	Дипломатическая переписка
Impression of a seal	Оттиск печати
Letter of credence Letter of recall	Верительная грамота Отзывная грамота
Scalloped off-white paper wafer	Зубчатый бумажный диск сероватого цвета

Уважаемые Читатели уже, конечно, знакомы с понятием метонимии. Метонимия применительно к реалиям США используется широко и знакома не только американцам, а всему миру. Каждое из следующих названий рождает в голове читателя целую череду образов и ассоциаций: Голливуд, Лас Вегас, Белый Дом, Вашингтон, Пентагон, Бродвей. Есть и более сложные метонимы, знакомые людям, хорошо разбирающимся в политическом устройстве США: Лэнгли (ЦРУ), the Foggy Bottom (Гос.деп.), Хьюстон (NASA), Уолл Стрит (финансовая индустрия США) и т.д.

Географические названия как бы «удерживают» в себе дополнительные сведения в упрощенном виде, так что оперировать такими метонимическими обозначениями в сознании гораздо легче, чем вызывать из памяти все сведения, стоящие за этими символами. Например, название здания, где размещается министерство обороны США,– Pentagon – стало употребляться для обозначения этого министерства и американской военной системы в целом.

Вот список лишь нескольких наиболее известных американских метонимов:

Houston	largest city in the state of Texas	NASA Mission Control (for which the call sign is "Houston")
Annapolis	the capital of the state of Maryland	the United States Naval Academy, which is located there
Detroit	the largest city in Michigan	the American automotive industry
Hollywood	a section of Los Angeles	the American film & television industry
Langley	an unincorporated community in Virginia	The Central Intelligence Agency
Washington	the capital city of the United States	the government of the United States
Wall Street	a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City	the American financial and banking industry
Madison Avenue	an avenue running the length of Manhattan Island in New York City	the American advertising industry
Broadway	an avenue running the length of Manhattan Island in New York City	the live theater district of New York
The Hill	a historic neighborhood in Washington, DC and the physical location of the U.S. Congress	the legislative branch of the Federal Government
The White House	the official Presidential residence in Washington, DC	the US President, his staff and close advisors
The Pentagon	the office building in Arlington, Virginia that serves as the headquarters of the US Defense Department	the US Defense Department, the US Secretary of Defense and high-ranking military officials based there

Ниже хочу привести примеры использования метонимов в газетных и журнальных статьях:

«I majored in political science at Duke, and I graduated with a master's degree in government from the Kennedy School at Harvard. I understand realpolitik, geopolitical jujitsu, economics, and the reality of the Arab world. I know the tension between the White House, the UN, Langley, and Foggy Bottom. One of my grandfathers was a two-star Navy admiral; my other grandfather was an ambassador. I am not a pushover, blindly following whoever is in charge, and I don't kid myself that I live in a perfect world. But the war made sense then, and the occupation makes sense now».

***

«He left Don Rumsfeld and the Pentagon to flap in the breeze in wartime, and when the enemies Rumsfeld made in order to do his job in the face of outright resistance from Langley and Foggy Bottom called from Rumsfeld's head, he gave it to him, installing a CIA apparatchik in his place».

***

 “Louis now gauged the depth of his obliviousness, his staggering naiveté, by the fact that he had preferred working at CIA headquarters in Langley to working at the State Department in Foggy Bottom. It was a great sprawling campus with modern, low buildings and tree-lined walkways».

***

"From the White House to the Pentagon, from Foggy Bottom (State Department) to Langley (CIA) to Ft. Meade (NSA), the Americans are intensely coordinating with the Israelis to take over the Middle East region as never before in modern history...»

***

«He did finally assert presidential authority when he rejected the defeatist advice of the Baker-Hamilton commission and Condi Rice’s State Department, ordering instead the “surge,” a decision that he surely hopes will eclipse the dismal period from 2004 to January 2007. But that is but one victory for the White House among many failures at Langley, at the Pentagon and in Foggy Bottom».