President Joe Biden marked Christmas Eve by officially naming the bald eagle the national bird of the USA.
The bald eagle has been America’s symbol since the USA came to be, or even perhaps before. It first appeared on the US’s Great Seal in 1782, flying with its wings outspread.
It appears on many institutions and government documents, the president’s house, the military’s insignia, and, of course, the one-dollar bill, and many coins along the years.
Funnily, Benjamin Franklin hated the choice for emblem:
I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. The turkey is a much more respectable bird and withal a true, original native of America.
Despite his protests, the bald eagle is here to stay.
“For nearly 250 years, we called the bald eagle the national bird when it wasn’t,” said Jack Davis, co-chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center, in a statement. “But now the title is official, and no bird is more deserving.”
Indeed, “Old Abe,” a bald eagle who fought with the Wisconsin regiment during the Civil War, was a constant target of enemy riflemen, but survived 42 battle engagements relatively unscathed.
What’s more, the bald eagle is actually indigenous to North America, unlike other eagles.
During his presidency, John F. Kennedy declared:
The Founding Fathers made an appropriate choice when they selected the bald eagle as the emblem of the nation. The fierce beauty and proud independence of this great bird aptly symbolizes the strength and freedom of America. But as latter-day citizens we shall fail our trust if we permit the eagle to disappear.
This came some time after the National Emblem Act of 1940, in which the bald eagle was protected after farming and fishing activities plunged the specifies into dangerous decline. They’ve seen a good comeback since 2009 on, and live in northern regions of North America (such as Minnesota) and Florida breeding sanctuaries.
Joe Biden, who was viewed sternly recently for pardoning his son Hunter, signed 50 pieces of legislation on Christmas Eve.
