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In God We (Don't) Trust

For an overwhelming part of U.S. history, America's motto was purely secular, "E Pluribus Unum" (From many [come] one). E Pluribus Unum was chosen by a committee of Jefferson, Adams and Franklin. Many Americans mistakenly assume our founders chose "In God We Trust" as the motto, but nothing could be further from the truth. Our founders were committed to a secular government. For most of U.S. history, our money was likewise free of religion.


Notice the difference: The motto "In God We Trust" does not appear on the 1935 dollar bill (top). The phrase only began appearing in the late 1950s.

Of all of the complaints over state/church entanglement received by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, "In God We Trust" on U.S. money and as the U.S. motto rank near the top in volume. The johnny-come-lately appearance of this religious motto, adopted as the result of a religious campaign by a McCarthyesque Congress, has unfortunately been used as precedent to justify other First Amendment violations since then. This symbolic unity of "God" with government has created a lack of respect for the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state. Citizens are continually confronted by currency further confusing the line between church and state.

To learn more about how a religious motto supplanted U.S. secular heritage, read on and see the links below.

The Freedom From Religion sued the federal government in 1994 to have "In God We Trust" removed from currency and as our national motto.

The motto was put on all paper currency by an Act of Congress in 1955. The phrase was chosen as our national motto by an Act of Congress in 1956. It first appeared on paper currency in 1957.

The Foundation lawsuit was dismissed by a 10th-circuit federal judge on the grounds that "In God We Trust" is not a religious phrase. The Foundation appealed the dismissal.