Novus Ordo Saeclorum

Currently reading Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which is timely as it occurs during a papal conclave.  In the book, Brown has his hero state that the motto of the Great Seal of the United States: "Novus Ordo Saeclorum" means "new world order."  According to my research, it does not.  Apparently, the phrase translates as "a new order of the ages," meant to infer the establishment of American Independence in 1776.  The phrase, like annuit coeptis, is borrowed from the poet Virgil.  Notice the Roman numerals on the base of the unfinished pyramid--1776.  The unfinished pyramid itself, is symbolic of the foundation of the nation, and the phrase Annuit Coeptis means "He has favored our undertaking."  So, far from being secular and crypto-masonic, the Great Seal is a symbolic representation of the spirit of the founding of the United States.