July 30, 1956
“In God We Trust” was adopted as the official motto of the United States. The phrase first started appearing on coins during the Civil War, generally thought to be an attempt to link the Union cause with God. In 1956, the nation was at a tense time in the Cold War, and the United States wanted to distinguish itself from the Soviet Union, which promoted state atheism. The motto was first challenged by champions of the separation of church and state in Aronow v. United States in 1970, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled: “It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency ‘In God We Trust’ has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise.”
