Enamel Tie Tack

This tie tack features the American bald eagle from the Presidential Coat of Arms carved into the kneehole panel of the Resolute Desk. A gift to Rutherford B. Hayes from Queen Victoria in 1880, the desk was made from timbers rescued from the British ship HMS Resolute. The eagle on the tie pin faces right, towards the shaft of arrows, the same version of the presidential seal carved into the desk in 1945 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt had it modified to hide his iron braces. President Truman changed the official seal shortly afterwards to have the eagle facing left, towards the olive branch.