What is the official name of the statue on top of the U.S. Capitol dome?

The correct answer is the “Statue of Freedom”. Also known as Lady Freedom, Armed Freedom or just Freedom the bronze cast statue was originally named “Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace". It is now listed by U.S. government publications officially as the “Statue of Freedom”. The sculpture is a depiction of a graceful female figure in classical dress wearing a helmet composed of an eagle’s head with an arrangement of feathers. Her left hand holds a shield and victory wreath, and the right is grasping a sheathed sword which was all intended to represent armed liberty according to the artist Thomas Crawford (1814-1857).

This bronze statue was cast from an original plaster sculpture by Thomas Crawford. The sculpture was in five major parts and after Crawford’s death it had a perilous journey from Rome to the U.S. going by way of Bermuda. All of the five plaster parts finally delivered to Clark Mills bronze factory located on the outskirts of Washington in 1859 and casting into bronze started. Work halted due to the Civil War, but with the help of a slave Philip Reid it was completed by the end of 1862. It was permanently placed on top the U.S. Capitol dome when construction allowed it in late 1863.