The bald eagle was officially declared the national bird of the United States on December 24, after President Joe Biden signed the law. While the bird has been a national emblem of the United States since 1782, even appearing on the Great Seal of the United States, it had never been formally designated as the national bird.
During the initial appearance of the bald eagle on the national emblem and other continuous appearances on postal stamps and coins, Benjamin Franklin opposed the idea since he deemed it “a bird of bad moral character,” The New York Times explains. This opposition played a role in the difficulty of choosing a national bird in the country’s early years. NBC News reports that “some of the Founding Fathers—Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson—were tasked with creating a national seal but couldn’t come to an agreement.” Nevertheless, bald eagles, with their bright yellow beak, marble eyes, and long wingspan, have symbolized strength, courage, freedom, and immortality for generations, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The bird has served as the pride and strength of America, which led to many mistaken references to the bald eagle as the national bird.
The bald eagle’s unmistakable presence was also well-loved in many parts of American history. It represented American culture through “sports teams and American clothing brands, and is written into movie lines and patriotic song lyrics,” The New York Times mentions. Furthermore, the bald eagle was also part of major historical advancements in the United States. During the landing of the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong referred to the spacecraft landing by stating, “The Eagle has landed.”
With the new law, the bald eagle will be one of the cultural highlights of America, joining the bison, which is the national mammal, and the oak, which is the national tree. The bill regarding the eagle was greatly supported by Minnesota representatives, as the state is home to one of the largest bald eagle populations in the nation. Bald eagles are native to North America and found in almost all states. Despite nearly going extinct, they are well populated because it is illegal to hunt them due to the National Emblem Act of 1940. After necessary conservation measures were taken, the population of the eagles increased again from 2009.
The newly signed bill surprised many who believed that the bald eagle had always been the national bird of America. “For nearly 250 years, we called the bald eagle the national bird when it wasn’t,” Jack Davis, co-chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center, said in an interview with BBC News. This widespread confusion mainly stemmed from the fact that the bald eagle had been designated the national emblem for centuries, but was not the national bird yet.
After 248 years, the bald eagle is formally designated the official national bird of the United States of America, addressing this overlooked part of history. “No one has to change anything; it’s just a correction. It is only a correction in history to make things right and make things the way they should be,” Preston Cook, a resident of Minnesota told NBC News. The bald eagle has been on America’s Great Seal since the Revolutionary War, and its legacy continues with the new law declaring the bald eagle the national bird.
