The bald eagle has officially been recognized as the national bird of the United States after President Joe Biden signed a bill into law on Tuesday. This historic move corrects a nearly 250-year oversight, as Congress unanimously passed the measure to formally enshrine the iconic bird’s status in U.S. law.
Although the bald eagle has been a central symbol of American identity and appears prominently on the Great Seal of the United States, it had never been legally designated as the national bird. The Great Seal, approved in 1782, features the eagle carrying a shield with a flag design, an olive branch symbolizing peace, and arrows representing strength. Despite its longstanding association with American ideals, the bird’s official status had been overlooked since the nation’s founding.
Benjamin Franklin famously opposed the bald eagle’s selection for the Great Seal, criticizing it in a letter to his daughter as “a bird of bad moral character.” Nonetheless, the eagle remained an enduring emblem of the United States.
The bill’s journey began with Minnesota resident Preston Cook, a lifelong bald eagle enthusiast who discovered the bird’s lack of formal recognition and took it upon himself to draft a simple piece of legislation. His proposed language declared, “The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is the national bird.” Cook shared his draft with lawmakers, and his efforts gained traction when Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., led a bipartisan group to bring the bill to the Senate floor in July. The legislation passed unanimously in the Senate and the House, with no opposition.
Cook expressed his relief at the long-overdue correction, describing it as a necessary step to align historical facts with reality. “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,” he said.
The signing of this bill ensures that the bald eagle’s symbolic role as a representation of American resilience, freedom, and independence is now officially recognized in U.S. law.
