The Seven Order of the IlluminatiThe Seven Order Apply

The Unfinished Pyramid and "1776"

A coincidence of dates, not a secret sign.

Popularly attributed — not documented

Period
1782 (Great Seal of the United States)

The unfinished pyramid on the reverse of the Great Seal carries the date MDCCLXXVI — 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence. That the Bavarian order was founded in the same year is a coincidence. The pyramid was never an Illuminati symbol.

Sources

  • Patterson and Dougall, The Eagle and the Shield (1976).