The Official Motto of Every State

The 50 states of the United States express their sovereignty in various ways, and one of them is their state’s motto. No two states have the same precept, and virtually all express an optimism for the future.

State mottoes are expressed in seven languages other than English — Latin, Spanish, Greek, French, Chinook, Italian, and Hawaiian. (Also See The Most Commonly Spoken Foreign Language in Every State.)

To compile a list of the official state mottos, 24/7 Tempo reviewed information from various online sources, including encyclopedias and state guides. Data on population is from the Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey and are one-year estimates.

Mottoes have been rendered in Latin in 31 states, harkening back to the Roman Republic when the ancient Romans formed representative government, codified law, and established property rights, themes that are found in a state’s beliefs. They reference defending rights (Alabama), people’s right to rule (Arkansas), taking up arms (Mississippi), and freedom (West Virginia). (Also See Latin phrases We Still Used All the Time.)

Many mottoes invoke God, whether in Latin or another language, in such states as Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Kentucky. Other themes mention equal rights (Nebraska, Wyoming); unity (North Dakota, Illinois, Nevada); liberty (Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Iowa, West Virginia); and democracy (Arkansas, South Dakota).

Some states kept their mottoes succinct: Friendship (Texas), industry (Utah), hope (Rhode Island), and forward (Wisconsin).

Mottoes of some states have become famous in their own right. They include “Live Free or Die,” proudly emblazoned on New Hampshire vehicle license plates; “Excelsior!” Is New York’s motto; and “Sic Semper Tyrannis,” the motto of Virginia, which was shouted by Confederate states  sympathizer John Wilkes Booth after he shot President Abraham Lincoln.

Alabama

• Official motto: Audemus jura nostra defendere
• Translation or meaning: We dare to defend our rights (Latin)
• Population: 5,074,296

Alaska

• Official motto: North to the Future
• Translation or meaning: Alaska as a land of promise
• Population: 733,583

Arizona

• Official motto: Ditat Deus
• Translation or meaning: God enriches (Latin)
• Population: 7,359,197

Arkansas

• Official motto: Regnat populus
• Translation or meaning: The people rule (Latin)
• Population: 3,045,637

California

• Official motto: Eureka
• Translation or meaning: I have found it (Greek)
• Population: 39,029,342

Colorado

• Official motto: Nil sine numine
• Translation or meaning: Nothing without Providence (Latin)
• Population: 5,839,926

Connecticut

• Official motto: Qui transtulit sustinet
• Translation or meaning: He who transplanted sustains (Latin)
• Population: 3,626,205

Delaware

• Official motto: Liberty and independence
• Translation or meaning: Phrase was added to the official Delaware seal in 1847.
• Population: 1,018,396

District of Columbia

• Official motto: Justitia Omnibus
• Translation or meaning: Justice for All (Latin)
• Population: 671,803

Florida

• Official motto: In God we trust
• Translation or meaning: Adopted by the Florida legislature as part of the state seal in 1868
• Population: 22,244,823

Georgia

• Official motto: Wisdom, Justice, Moderation
• Translation or meaning: Reference to the three pillars which support the Constitution
• Population: 10,912,876

Hawaii

• Official motto: Ua Mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono
• Translation or meaning: The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness (Hawaiian)
• Population: 1,440,196

Idaho

• Official motto: Esto perpetua
• Translation or meaning: Let it be perpetual (Latin)
• Population: 1,939,033

Illinois

• Official motto: State sovereignty, national union
• Translation or meaning: There was consideration to reverse the words in light of the Civil War, but a bill was passed on March 7, 1867, creating a new seal with the original wording.
• Population: 12,582,032

Indiana

• Official motto: The crossroads of America
• Translation or meaning: Indianapolis is the hub for several major Interstate highways that criss-cross the state, connecting it to the rest of the country.
• Population: 6,833,037

Iowa

• Official motto: Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain
• Translation or meaning: The liberties of state citizens are valued and that they are willing to defend them
• Population: 3,200,517

Kansas

• Official motto: Ad astra per aspera
• Translation or meaning: To the stars through difficulties (Latin)
• Population: 2,937,150

Kentucky

• Official motto: United we stand, divided we fall|Deo gratiam habeamus
• Translation or meaning: Let us be grateful to God (Latin)
• Population: 4,512,310

Louisiana

• Official motto: Union, justice, and confidence
• Translation or meaning: No one is sure how this specific motto came to be
• Population: 4,590,241

Maine

• Official motto: Dirigo
• Translation or meaning: I direct (Latin)
• Population: 1,385,340

Maryland

• Official motto: Fatti maschi, parole femmine|Scuto bonae voluntatis coronasti nos|crescite et multiplicamini
• Translation or meaning: Strong deeds, gentle words (Italian)|By the shield of your good will you have crowned us (Latin)|grow and multiply (Latin)
• Population: 6,164,660

Massachusetts

• Official motto: Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem
• Translation or meaning: By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty (Latin)
• Population: 6,981,974

Michigan

• Official motto: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice|Tuebor
• Translation or meaning: If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you (Latin)|I will defend (Latin)
• Population: 10,034,118

Minnesota

• Official motto: L’etoile du Nord|Quae sursum volo videre
• Translation or meaning: The star of the North (French)|I long to see what is beyond (Latin)
• Population: 5,717,184

Mississippi

• Official motto: Virtute et armis
• Translation or meaning: By valor and arms (Latin)
• Population: 2,940,057

Missouri

• Official motto: Salus populi suprema lex esto
• Translation or meaning: The Welfare of the People is the Highest Law (Latin)
• Population: 6,177,957

Montana

• Official motto: Oro y plata
• Translation or meaning: Gold and silver (Spanish)
• Population: 1,122,867

Nebraska

• Official motto: Equality before the law
• Translation or meaning: Reflected Nebraska’s willingness to extend suffrage to black Americans
• Population: 1,967,923

Nevada

• Official motto: All for our country
• Translation or meaning: The motto may have to do with pro-Union sentiment
• Population: 3,177,772

New Hampshire

• Official motto: Live free or die
• Translation or meaning: As voiced by General John Stark, the state’s best-known Revolutionary War hero
• Population: 1,395,231

New Jersey

• Official motto: Liberty and Prosperity
• Translation or meaning: Prosperity refers to being free from the taxes imposed by the British government
• Population: 9,261,699

New Mexico

• Official motto: Crescit eundo
• Translation or meaning: It goes by growing (Latin)
• Population: 2,113,344

New York

• Official motto: Excelsior!
• Translation or meaning: Ever Upward! (Latin)
• Population: 19,677,151

North Carolina

• Official motto: Esse quam videri
• Translation or meaning: To be, rather than to seem (Latin)
• Population: 10,698,973

North Dakota

• Official motto: Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable
• Translation or meaning: Refers to a free nation that cannot be divided
• Population: 779,261

Ohio

• Official motto: With God, all things are possible|Imperium in imperio
• Translation or meaning: an empire in an empire (Latin)
• Population: 11,756,058

Oklahoma

• Official motto: Labor omnia vincit
• Translation or meaning: Hard work conquers all things (Latin)
• Population: 4,019,800

Oregon

• Official motto: Alis volat propriis
• Translation or meaning: She flies with her own wings (Latin)
• Population: 4,240,137

Pennsylvania

• Official motto: Virtue, Liberty and Independence
• Translation or meaning: Refers to people’s hope after the outbreak of the War of Independence
• Population: 12,972,008

Rhode Island

• Official motto: Hope
• Translation or meaning: Probably inspired by the biblical phrase “hope we have as an anchor of the soul”
• Population: 1,093,734

South Carolina

• Official motto: Dum spiro spero|animis opibusque parati
• Translation or meaning: While I breathe, I hope (Latin)|prepared in minds and resources (Latin)
• Population: 5,282,634

South Dakota

• Official motto: Under God the people rule
• Translation or meaning: First suggested by Dr. Joseph Ward, the founder of Yankton College
• Population: 909,824

Tennessee

• Official motto: Agriculture and Commerce
• Translation or meaning: Refers to the state’s agriculturally diverse land
• Population: 7,051,339

Texas

• Official motto: Friendship
• Translation or meaning: Derived from a Spanish derivation of the name of a native Indian tribe Caddo
• Population: 30,029,572

Utah

• Official motto: Industry
• Translation or meaning: Associated with the symbol of the beehive
• Population: 3,380,800

Vermont

• Official motto: Freedom and Unity|Stella quarta decima fulgeat
• Translation or meaning: May the 14th star shine bright (Latin)
• Population: 647,064

Virginia

• Official motto: Sic semper tyrannis
• Translation or meaning: Thus always to tyrants (Latin)
• Population: 8,683,619

Washington

• Official motto: Al-ki
• Translation or meaning: By and by (Chinook)
• Population: 7,785,786

West Virginia

• Official motto: Montani semper liberi
• Translation or meaning: Mountaineers are always free (Latin)
• Population: 1,775,156

Wisconsin

• Official motto: Forward
• Translation or meaning: Adopted as the official state motto in 1851
• Population: 5,892,539

Wyoming

• Official motto: Equal Rights|Cedant arma togae.
• Translation or meaning: Let weapons yield to the toga (Latin)
• Population: 581,381