State words, mottoes, slogans, and sayings
I like to think that state mottoes in the ASB have a little more cachet than their equivalents in our timeline. There are only a few real ones that are well known outside their borders, especially ones that seem to encapsulate their respective states and provinces like New Hampshire's Live Free or Die or Quebec's Je me souviens. In this timeline, maybe not all of these mottoes are famous like those, but they all serve as a focus of identity. They might be used in political debates as a distillation of the state's core values. Some may have a history as war cries and a contemporary use as cheers at sporting events.
As in any such list, we see wide variety: local and foreign languages; some calls for unity and some for defiance; some clear and well-defined statements and some whose meaning is mysterious.
As in any such list, we see wide variety: local and foreign languages; some calls for unity and some for defiance; some clear and well-defined statements and some whose meaning is mysterious.
State |
Words |
Language |
Translation |
|
Allegheny |
Les montagnards sont toujours libres |
French |
Mountain-dwellers are always free |
|
Arques |
Justice, Union, Industrie |
French |
Justice, Union, Industry |
|
Assiniboia |
Kaa-tipeyimishoyaahk |
Michif |
We are those who govern ourselves |
Core principle of the Métis revolt |
Bahamas |
Regi ultra aquam / To the King over the Water |
Latin and English (both are official) |
Jacobite toast and statement of loyalty. Efforts to adopt a more modern motto have failed to gain traction. |
|
Bermuda |
Quo fata ferunt |
Latin |
Whither the fates carry [us] |
Quote from the Aeneid. Reference to the hurricanes and shipwrecks that have racked the islands' history. |
Canada |
Je me souviens |
French |
I remember |
Opinions differ on whether this is supposed to refer to a specific thing, or to remembering the past in general. |
Carolina |
Dum spiro spero |
Latin |
While I breathe, I hope |
Replaced the colonial motto Domitus cultoribus orbis (Tamed by the cultivators of the earth) shortly after the start of responsible government in the 1770s |
Cayman Islands |
He hath founded it upon the seas |
English |
Quote from Psalm 24 |
|
Cherokee |
ᎦᏚᎩ (Gadugi) |
Cherokee |
Working together |
|
Chicasaw |
Nanna Ayya |
Chicasaw |
Peace |
|
Choctaw |
ish ikhana chike |
Choctaw |
You must remember |
Formula used in storytelling |
Christiana |
Visheten är rikets stöd |
Swedish |
Wisdom is the support of the realm |
Personal motto of Queen Kristina, adopted by the state in the mid 19th century |
Cuba |
Morir por la patria es vivir |
Spanish |
To die for the homeland is to live |
Line from the revolutionary hymn La bayamesa by Perucho Figueredo |
Dakota |
Mitákuye Owás’į |
Dakota |
We are all related / All my relations |
Religious formula used in prayer and ceremonies. The motto is an
extension of this cultural spirit of interconnectedness to the civic
spirit of the state. |
East Acadia |
Ave maris stella |
Latin |
Hail, star of the seas |
Opening line of a ninth-century Marian hymn adopted as the state anthem |
East Dominica |
Dios, patria, libertad |
Spanish |
God, homeland, freedom |
|
East Florida |
Plus ultra |
Latin |
Further beyond |
Taken from the royal motto of Spain |
Huronia |
Gdoo-naaganinaa |
Anishinaabe |
Dish with one spoon / Our dish |
Common metaphor for sharing things in common and resolving conflicts peacefully |
Illinois |
Souveraineté étatique, union continentale |
French |
State sovereignty, continental union |
Expression of mid-19th century support for the cause of Affiliation |
Iroquoia |
Wahakwakirayento ne Skennenkowa |
Common Iroquois (based on Mohawk) |
I plant the Great Tree of Peace |
Opening line from the oral constitution, the Great Law of Peace. The tree represents the permanence of peace among the nations. |
Labrador |
ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᑦ (Nunatsiavut) |
Inuktitut |
Our beautiful land |
|
Lower Connecticut |
Meliorem lapsa locavit |
Latin |
He has planted one better than the one fallen |
It's not completely clear what this refers to. "The one fallen" may be
the pre-1664 New Haven colony, the pre-1690 Dominion of New England, or
the 1780s-era confederation with Massachusetts. Either way, it evokes
the state's main symbol, an oak tree. |
Lower Louisiana |
Justice, Union, Confiance |
French |
Justice, Union, Confidence |
|
Lower Virginia (1) |
Sic semper tyrannis |
Latin |
Thus always to tyrants |
Revolutionary war cry |
(2) |
Don't tread on me |
English |
Together with the state's rattlesnake symbol |
|
Maryland (1) |
Fatti maschii, parole femine |
Italian |
Manly deeds, womanly words |
The personal/family motto of Lord Baltimore. It's been called into
question in light of modern ideas about gender. On the one hand, it
relies on obvious stereotypes. On the other, it is progressive in
its way by urging women and men to learn from one another.
Sometimes it is given the alternate translation "Firm deeds, gentle
words." |
(2) |
Regi ultra aquam / To the King over the Water |
Latin and English (both are official) |
The Jacobite toast and loyalty statement is also official in Maryland. |
|
Massachusetts |
Inimica tyrannis |
Latin |
The enemy to tyrants |
Revolutionary motto |
Muscoguia |
Paksvnke, Mucv-Nettv, Pakse |
Muscogui |
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow |
|
Newfoundland |
Quaerite prime regnum Dei |
Latin |
Seek ye first the kingdom of God |
Quote from the Book of Matthew, granted in 1637 |
New Hampshire |
Live free or die |
English |
Adapted by a toast made by John Stark, revolutionary general |
|
New Netherland |
Eendracht maakt macht |
Dutch |
Unity makes strength |
Same as the motto of the Dutch Republic |
New Scotland |
Munit haec et altera vincit |
Latin |
One [hand] defends and the other conquers |
From a Scottish grant of arms. The slogan is often said to refer to the
lion in the center of the shield, which has one hand raised and one
lowered. |
Ohio |
Confoederatio in confoederatione |
Latin |
Confederation within a confederation |
Dates to Ohio's earliest days as a state. Its political structure is
more centralized today, but the state still celebrates the diversity of
its internal regions. |
Pennsylvania |
Mercy and Justice |
English |
Chosen by William Penn for the first colonial seal |
|
Plymouth |
Just and equal laws |
English |
Quote from the Mayflower Compact of 1620 , which remains in effect today. |
|
Poutaxia |
Amicitia |
Latin |
Friendship |
Established as the motto when the state was constituted by leaders from Connecticut, New Netherland, Pennsylvania and Iroquoia. |
Rhode Island |
Hope |
English |
Reference to Hebrews 6:18 - "Hope we have as an anchor of the soul" - together with the state's anchor symbol. |
|
Saint John's Island |
Abegweit |
Mi'kmaq |
Land cradled in waves |
The Mi'kmaq name for the island has also been adopted as the motto. |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon |
Askatasuna, berdintasuna, senidetasuna / Frankiz, parded, breudeuriezh / Liberté, égalité, fraternité |
Basque, Breton, and French (all three are official) |
Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood |
Trilingual translation of the motto of the French Republic |
Saybrook |
Qui sustinet transtulit |
Latin |
He who transplanted sustains |
Motto from the colonial seal |
Seminol |
invicti |
Latin |
the Unconquered |
Originally referred to the nation's status as unconquered allies of the Spanish empire. |
Turks and Caicos |
Islands Together |
English |
A motto of the islands' movements for autonomy and later statehood. In
2017 it was the name of an initiative for restoring confidence in the
local government, then became the official motto soon after. |
|
Upper Connecticut |
Alteri seculo |
Latin |
Another generation |
Supports the state's motif of an acorn growing new shoots. |
the Upper Country |
A mari usque ad mare |
Latin |
From sea to sea |
Quote from Psalm 72 |
Upper Louisiana (1) |
Montre-moi |
French |
Show me |
As with "je me souviens," nobody is quite sure where this comes from, but it's synonymous with the state. |
(2) |
Salus populi suprema lex esto |
Latin |
The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law |
A more weighty-sounding motto used by some government branches. |
Upper Virginia |
United we stand, divided we fall |
English |
Taken from the era of
the Wars of Independence, adopted when the state split from LV as a way
to affirm its solidarity with the ASB. |
|
Vermont |
Freedom and Unity |
English |
||
the Vineyards |
Concordia res parvae crescunt |
Latin |
Small things flourish by concord |
Quote from Sallust's Jugurthine War |
Watauga |
Be sure you're right, then go ahead |
English |
Quote from David Crockett, regional diplomat |
|
West Acadia |
Terra fidesque nostra |
Latin |
Our land and our faith |
|
West Dominica |
Dieu, le travail, la liberté |
French |
God, work, freedom |
From the hymn Quand nos Aïeux brisèrent leurs entraves by poet Oswald Durand, written 1893 |
West Florida |
Liberty, egalité, fraternidad |
English, French, Spanish (one word from each language) |
Liberty, equality, brotherhood |
Trilingual translation of the motto of the French Republic |