The Thirteen Arrows

Long before the United States existed, the nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy — the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca — were locked in bitter and endless warfare. Blood feuds, revenge killings, and rivalries tore families apart. Into that chaos came the Peacemaker, a spiritual messenger sent to teach a new law: that peace was possible through unity and righteous governance.

He journeyed among the warring nations, carrying his message of the Great Law of Peace. To each chief, he demonstrated that a single arrow can be easily broken, but a bundle of arrows bound together cannot. Unity, he taught, was strength. If the nations joined under one law and one council, their peace would be unbreakable.

When at last all the nations agreed, they buried their weapons beneath the roots of a tall white pine — the Tree of Peace — and the Peacemaker bound five arrows together to symbolize their union. Each arrow represented a nation; together they stood for the principle that peace depends on solidarity, not submission. The Peacemaker held up the bundle and said:

"If any one arrow breaks, the others will remain strong. Thus shall you live as one family, of one heart, one mind, and one law."

This bundle of arrows became one of the most enduring symbols of the Haudenosaunee, representing unity, collective defense, and enduring peace through confederation.

The Birth of a Republic and the Eagle's Arrows

When the founders of the United States gathered in the late 18th century to form a new government, they sought symbols that would express their ideals of union and liberty. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all proposed designs for a national seal that could speak to the spirit of the new republic.

By 1782, the final design emerged: the Great Seal of the United States. Its central figure, the American bald eagle, clutches in its talons two objects:

• An olive branch, symbolizing peace.
• A bundle of thirteen arrows, symbolizing strength through unity and the power to defend that peace.

Each arrow represented one of the thirteen original states, bound together in common cause. The meaning was clear: together they could not be broken.

Though the designers did not explicitly cite the Haudenosaunee legend, the resonance is unmistakable. The Founding Fathers had long admired the Iroquois Confederacy. Franklin in particular had written admiringly of it, calling attention to how five nations had maintained unity and self-governance for centuries. The imagery of bundled arrows signifying unity and strength was already known in colonial America through Iroquois diplomacy and wampum traditions.

The Peacemaker's Legacy in the American Symbol

In the Peacemaker's time, the arrows were not weapons of aggression but a lesson: they were to be bound so tightly together that they could never again be used against one another. The act of binding was a covenant of restraint — a pledge that war among brothers would end, and that strength would serve peace.

When the bald eagle took those arrows in its talon, the symbolism carried forward. The eagle faces toward the olive branch, indicating the nation's preference for peace, but it holds the arrows tightly — a reminder that peace is preserved by unity and vigilance.

Thus, the Great Seal of the United States carries a quiet echo of the Great Law of Peace. It tells the same story in a new language: that freedom and security depend not on domination, but on the unbreakable bond among equals.

The Continuing Message

The thirteen arrows are more than a count of colonies; they are a mathematical confession of principle — that many can stand as one without surrendering individuality. The Peacemaker's bundle and the eagle's talon both proclaim that unity, not uniformity, is the foundation of strength.

In the Haudenosaunee teaching, the Tree of Peace shelters all who seek safety beneath its branches. In the American republic, the eagle guards that same ideal with wings spread wide. One is rooted in earth, the other soars in sky, but both affirm the same truth:

Peace endures when the people are bound together by justice, and their strength is joined in purpose.