The Reverse (Obverse) Side Design of United States Great Seal of the United States. According to Charles Thomson: "The pyramid signifies Strength and Duration: the Eye over it & the Motto allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in favour of the American cause." "Annuit Coeptis": Providence Has Favored Our Undertakings; Thomson coined the motto "Novus ordo seclorum." The accepted translation is: "A new order of the ages."