In God We Trust

“我们信仰上帝”(In God We Trust)

"In God We Trust" is the current national motto of the United States. It was declared as such by an act of Congress in 1956, displacing the existing national motto, E Pluribus Unum.

One origin of the current motto can be found in the final stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner," written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key (and later adopted as the U.S. National Anthem), contains one of the earliest references to a variation of the phrase: "…And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

In 1956, the Cold War was in full swing, and the anti-Communist suspicion of the McCarthy era was at its height. Partly in reaction to Communism (which was commonly associated with atheism despite being merely devoid of an official religion), the 84th Congress passed a joint resolution to replace the existing motto with "In God we Trust." According to United States Code, Title 36, Section 302, the new motto officially displaced the original 180 year-old national motto "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of Many, One) when President Eisenhower signed the resolution into law on 30 July 1956. [1]

Despite longstanding controversy and recent legal opposition to the current motto, the most common place it appears in daily life is on the money of the United States. The first United States coin to bear this national motto was the 1864 two-cent piece. It first appeared on U.S. currency on the back of Florida National Bank Notes in 1863. However it wasn’t until 1957 that the motto was permanently adopted for use on United States currency.

In God We Trust is also the official state motto of the state of Florida, and is found on the Seal of Florida. In God We Trust is also found on the flag of Georgia, as adopted by that state in 2003.