{"id":103,"date":"2021-01-11T10:38:07","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T15:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/?p=103"},"modified":"2021-04-27T11:22:21","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T15:22:21","slug":"the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cold War Origins of “In God We Trust”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe><\/p>\nDo you think \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 has been the US motto since the earliest days of the country? If you do, you\u2019re not alone. A lot of people assume that \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 has been stamped onto American coins and buildings for hundreds of years, simply because the motto has become so ubiquitous across U.S. institutions. But the motto actually entered U.S. institutional life at a very particular moment. In 1956, President Eisenhower signed two different laws which mandated the use of \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 across the U.S. The first law required this phrase to be on all our money. The second law designated the phrase as the official motto of the country.<\/p>\nWhy did we suddenly acquire a new country motto? After all, the country did not have an official motto for the first 180 years. And where did this motto come from? Who invented it?<\/p>\nThe phrase\u00a0\u2018In God We Trust\u2019 actually is derived from The Star-Spangled Banner, where it\u2019s part of a rhyming couplet in the final verse of the poem by Francis Scott Key, though it is a verse that is rarely sung as part of the national anthem, which is why so few people recognize the origins of the phrase. The lines read in the original:<\/p>\nThen conquer we must, when our cause it is just,<\/em> \nAnd this be our motto \u2013 \u201cIn God is our trust,\u201d <\/em><\/p>\nThe phrase \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 thus came from this poem. But why did President Eisenhower decide to make it the official motto of the country? In 1956, the U.S. was in the midst of the Cold War with Russia. As the conflict intensified, US rhetoric around nationalism and patriotism became increasingly tied up in rhetoric of piety. The Soviet Union was frequently denounced as a country of \u2018godless communists,\u2019 and the \u2018godlessness\u2019 was emphasized as a critical way in which the Soviet Union was distinguished from the U.S. This meant that while\u00a0American civil religion had always been part of the country\u2019s conception of the patriot, such conceptions became more deeply entrenched in this era. These two trends\u2013the connection of patriotism with piety and the defining the enemy Soviets as godless\u2013were critical to the adoption of \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 as the national motto. President Eisonhower himself was a proponent of religion initiatives, and he also launched the tradition of the annual national prayer breakfast.<\/p>\nThe motto of the United States is: \u201cIn God We Trust.\u201d But the motto is a relatively recent invention, dating back to the 1950s. Why did the U.S. institute this motto, and what does it tell us about American identity and religion? Watch this video to find out how\u00a0\u2018In God We Trust\u2019 came to be the motto of the U.S.<\/p>\nReligion For Breakfast launched as a video series in 2014, and now has over 200,000 subscribers on YouTube and over 7 million views. It is commonly used as an education tool in the classroom. Written and produced by religion scholar Andrew Henry, Religion For Breakfast covers a wide range of\u00a0introductory videos on religion and religious practices around the world, from the rise of Christianity to the role of Japanese religion in the development of Pokemon, to the world of myth and apocryphal literature.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you think \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 has been the US motto since the earliest days of the country? If you do, you\u2019re not alone. A lot of people assume that \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 has been stamped onto American coins and buildings for hundreds of years, simply because the motto has become so ubiquitous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4471,"featured_media":109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>The Cold War Origins of "In God We Trust"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r4AHNAnSbCc Do you think 'In God We Trust' has been the US motto since the earliest days of the country? If you do, you're not alone. A This Religion For Breakfast video explains the history behind when 'In God We Trust' become the motto of the United States.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Cold War Origins of "In God We Trust"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r4AHNAnSbCc Do you think 'In God We Trust' has been the US motto since the earliest days of the country? If you do, you're not alone. A This Religion For Breakfast video explains the history behind when 'In God We Trust' become the motto of the United States.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion for Breakfast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-11T15:38:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-27T15:22:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1387\/2021\/01\/in-god-we-trust.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Henry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Henry\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/\",\"name\":\"The Cold War Origins of \\\"In God We Trust\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-11T15:38:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-27T15:22:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#\/schema\/person\/ba8974c005a8556db5e027da3feec78b\"},\"description\":\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r4AHNAnSbCc Do you think 'In God We Trust' has been the US motto since the earliest days of the country? If you do, you're not alone. A This Religion For Breakfast video explains the history behind when 'In God We Trust' become the motto of the United States.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Cold War Origins of “In God We Trust”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/\",\"name\":\"Religion for Breakfast\",\"description\":\"Religion for Breakfast is an educational YouTube channel dedicated to the academic, nonsectarian study of religion. We promote improving the public's religious literacy by exploring humanity's beliefs and rituals through an anthropological, sociological, and archaeological lens.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#\/schema\/person\/ba8974c005a8556db5e027da3feec78b\",\"name\":\"Andrew Henry\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab4291e9d1c3869c05da499dd7ba7386?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab4291e9d1c3869c05da499dd7ba7386?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andrew Henry\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Andrew Mark Henry is a scholar of late antique Mediterranean religion.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/author\/ahenry\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Cold War Origins of \"In God We Trust\"","description":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r4AHNAnSbCc Do you think 'In God We Trust' has been the US motto since the earliest days of the country? If you do, you're not alone. A This Religion For Breakfast video explains the history behind when 'In God We Trust' become the motto of the United States.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Cold War Origins of \"In God We Trust\"","og_description":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r4AHNAnSbCc Do you think 'In God We Trust' has been the US motto since the earliest days of the country? If you do, you're not alone. A This Religion For Breakfast video explains the history behind when 'In God We Trust' become the motto of the United States.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/","og_site_name":"Religion for Breakfast","article_published_time":"2021-01-11T15:38:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-27T15:22:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":240,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1387\/2021\/01\/in-god-we-trust.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andrew Henry","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Henry","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/","name":"The Cold War Origins of \"In God We Trust\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-01-11T15:38:07+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-27T15:22:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#\/schema\/person\/ba8974c005a8556db5e027da3feec78b"},"description":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r4AHNAnSbCc Do you think 'In God We Trust' has been the US motto since the earliest days of the country? If you do, you're not alone. A This Religion For Breakfast video explains the history behind when 'In God We Trust' become the motto of the United States.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/2021\/01\/the-cold-war-origins-of-in-god-we-trust\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Cold War Origins of “In God We Trust”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/","name":"Religion for Breakfast","description":"Religion for Breakfast is an educational YouTube channel dedicated to the academic, nonsectarian study of religion. We promote improving the public's religious literacy by exploring humanity's beliefs and rituals through an anthropological, sociological, and archaeological lens.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#\/schema\/person\/ba8974c005a8556db5e027da3feec78b","name":"Andrew Henry","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab4291e9d1c3869c05da499dd7ba7386?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab4291e9d1c3869c05da499dd7ba7386?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Andrew Henry"},"description":"Dr. Andrew Mark Henry is a scholar of late antique Mediterranean religion.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/author\/ahenry\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionforbreakfast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}