The current Lincoln cent’s reverse (tails side) design is emblematic of President Abraham Lincoln’s preservation of the United States as a single and united country.
The reverse features a union shield with a scroll draped across it bearing the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM (“out of many, one”). The 13 vertical stripes of the shield represent the states joined in one compact union to support the federal government, represented by the horizontal bar above. The union shield, which dates back to the 1780s, was used widely during the Civil War. In addition, the shield device is featured on frescoes throughout the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building by Constantino Brumidi, artist of the Capitol during Lincoln’s presidency.
