 Another rationale, perhaps originally devised as a tool for recruits to sort out the confusion, proposed that the symbolism was expressed as proximity to the heavens.Gold metal is denser, thus deeper in the ground, than silver, followed by leaves on a tree above the metals, with eagles flying above the trees, and finally the stars in the firmament.In actuality, the precedence of silver outranking gold was a consequence of the decision in 1851 to select silver over gold as a matter of economy.