On November 20, 1861, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Portland Chase wrote to the Director of the Mint in Philadelphia:
Dear Sir,On December 9, 1863, Secretary of the Treasury S.P. Chase wrote again to the Director of the Mint, James Pollock:
No nation can be strong except in the strength of God or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.
Yours truly,
S.P. Chase
"I approve your mottos, only suggesting that, on that with the Washington obverse, the motto should begin with the word 'Our', so as to read:On March 3, 1865, the Congress of the United States of America approved the Treasury Secretary Salmon Portland Chase’s instruction to the U.S. mint to prepare a "device" to inscribe U.S. coins with the motto:
'Our God and our Country'. And on that with the shield, it should be changed so as to read: 'In God We Trust' ".
In a Memorial Address for President Lincoln, April 24, 1865, Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House of Representatives stated:
"Nor should I forget to mention here that the last act of Congress ever signed by him was one requiring that the motto, in which he sincerely believed, "In God We Trust", should hereafter be inscribed upon all our national coin."On October 30, 1949, in a radio address, President Harry S. Truman stated:
"When the United States was established, its coins bore witness to the American faith in a benevolent deity. The motto then was 'In God We Trust'. That is still our motto and we, as a people, still place our firm trust in God."July 20, 1956, in the 84th Congress, 2nd session, adopted House Joint Resolution 396, introduced by Rep. Charles E. Bennett (FL), providing that the national motto of the United States of America officially be "In God We Trust":
84th Congress, 2nd Session, H.J. 396;On March 19, 1981, in a Proclamation of a National Day of Prayer, President Ronald Reagan stated:
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 18 (legislative day, April 9,) 1956
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
Joint Resolution
To establish a national motto of the United States.Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled, That the national motto of the United States is hereby declared to be "In God We Trust".
Passed the House of Representatives April 16, 1956.
Attest: Ralph R. Roberts, Clerk.
"Our Nation’s motto, 'In God We Trust', was not chosen lightly. It reflects a basic recognition that there is a divine authority in the universe to which this nation owes homage."
The word Veritas, on the college seal, means "Divine truth".
Princeton's seal consisted of a seated woman and written above her head the Hebrew Tetragrammaton name of God, YHVH. The Latin motto inscribed across the top is Psalm 36:10, "In Thy light we see light." The Hebrew phrase Uri El, which is written on a ribbon, alludes to Psalm 27:1 "God is my light." Under the woman’s feet is inscribed the scripture, I PET.II.1-2, admonishing students to desire of the pure milk of God’s Word.