- Winter is a good time to view bald eagles in Utah’s wild spaces.
- Bald eagles, native to the U.S., have been a national symbol since 1782.
- A free bald eagle viewing event near Cedar City is scheduled for Friday.
SALT LAKE CITY — This year marks the U.S.’s 250th birthday, and one way to celebrate is to view one of its more majestic symbols, which has a home in Utah.
The bald eagle has been an official national symbol since 1782, a few years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and a year before the American Revolutionary War officially came to an end.
Its origin as a symbol dates back to the country’s first seal, which underwent several revisions before a formal design was adopted. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams agreed on “E Pluribus Unum” — Latin for “out of many, one” — as a motto for a seal that was proposed hours after the Declaration of Independence was signed, but the formal seal was tabled for a later time, the National Archives wrote…