The bald eagle was never officially our national bird. That’s about to change

For centuries, the bald eagle has been a ubiquitous symbol of the United States, appearing on the presidential seal, in the logos of numerous federal agencies and on billions of dollar bills.

But it turns out, the widely recognized raptor has been working in an unofficial capacity. The U.S., unlike dozens of other countries, has never formally named a national bird.

That could soon change, though. The Senate passed a bill to officially designate the bald eagle as the national bird on July 29.

“These majestic creatures have long been viewed as the official bird of this country and it is past time we made it official,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, of Wyoming, said in a news release.

“The bison is the national mammal, the rose is the national flower, and the oak is the national tree,” Preston Cook, the co-chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center, said in the release. “It’s time the Bald Eagle, long revered as our national symbol, finds its rightful place as our country’s official national bird.”

The bill, passed by unanimous consent, will be accompanied by companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

The bald eagle has been a long-running motif in American history, first appearing as a state-sanctioned symbol in 1776, when it was included on a Massachusetts copper cent, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In 1782, the Continental Congress agreed to include it in the Great Seal of the U.S., which features the bird clutching an olive branch and a bundle of arrows.

However, it wasn’t admired by all of the Founding Fathers. Benjamin Franklin famously disdained the bald eagle, favoring the “respectable” turkey instead.

“He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly,” Franklin wrote in a 1784 letter. He went on to call the eagle “too lazy to fish for himself.”

But despite Franklin’s objections, the bald eagle soared to a lofty stature, eventually representing the U.S. in numerous capacities.

It is now the “leading image on thousands of federal government branches, departments and agencies,” according to the Senate bill.

The eagle is also part of the insignia for every branch of the military and is included in hundreds of stamps as well as on coins.

The species is found throughout the contiguous U.S. as well as parts of Canada and Mexico, according to the National Parks Service. It became endangered in the 1900s, partly due to hunting and pesticides, but has dramatically rebounded in recent decades. It was delisted from the Endangered Species list in 2007 thanks to this recovery, but the birds still enjoy protections from the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 1:08 PM with the headline "The bald eagle was never officially our national bird. That’s about to change."