[2] It is engraved with the phrase "Society must be built on the basis of laws" (Icelandic: Með lögum skal land byggja) in both Icelandic and Latin.

[4][5] The first version of the gavel was used until 12 October 1960 when Assembly President Frederick Boland slammed it down so hard that the head broke off and went flying during Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident.

[4][6] An exact copy of the gavel, made by Jón Benediktsson, was given to the United Nations in 1961[7] and served the General Assembly until its disappearance in 2005.

[8][9] The third edition of the gavel was made by Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir (Sigga á Grund) and given to the UN in 2005.

[10][11][12] During the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, the gavel broke once again.