A three-judge federal appeals court panel has ruled that the phrase "In God We Trust," inscribed prominently on a local government building in the state of North Carolina, does not violate the U.S. Constitution's guidelines on separation of church and state.
Friday's decision by the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's earlier ruling, from May 2004 that the slogan "In God We Trust" has both patriotic and historical meaning, and does not constitute an illegal mixing of church and state interests.
The phrase has appeared on U.S. coins since 1865, and Congress voted in 1956 to make the words the official motto of the United States.
Some information for this report provided by AP.