 The motto was taken in turn from "Gentleman's Journal", a similar magazine which ran briefly from 1692 to 1694.While variants turn up in other places (for example a poem often ascribed to Virgil called "Moretum" contains the phrase "E Pluribus Unus"), this is the oldest known use of the exact phrase.Another source was some of the Continental currency issued earlier in 1776; these were designed by Franklin and featured the motto "We Are One" surrounded by thirteen rings, each with the name of a colony.