The Golden Rule mosaic is based on a painting by well-known American artist Norman Rockwell (1894 – 1978). The painting served as the illustration for the cover of the April 1961 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, a popular magazine. Rockwell’s most well-known work is the series of oil paintings called Four Freedoms, which was inspired by a 1941 speech by USA President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 – 1945). The speech centered on the idea of a postwar world based on four basic freedoms; freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Another recurring theme in Rockwell’s work is tolerance.  
 
The mosaic depicts people of every race, creed, and color, with dignity and respect and touches on the theme of human rights. Inscribed on the surface of the mosaic is the Golden Rule: Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You. It depicts a common experience and a shared aspiration to unify the world’s religions and philosophies. In the mosaic, people of all traditions and cultures of the world are in united harmony. The artist said, “When I decided to attempt a picture illustrating the Golden Rule and, remembering this charcoal, hauled it out of the cellar and looked at it, I immediately felt that in the grouping of the peoples of the world behind the delegates was the basis for my picture illustrating the Golden Rule.” 

The government and the people of the United States of America presented this gift to the United Nations and Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar received it. It was presented by the USA’s First Lady, Nancy Reagan (1921 – 2016), on 21 October 1985, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the United Nations. The Thanks-Giving Square Foundation arranged for the creation and finance of the mosaic.