Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem
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''Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem'' is a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
passage and the official motto of the U.S.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
and the
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...
. The phrase is often loosely translated into English as "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty." The literal translation, however, is "she seeks with the sword a quiet peace under liberty." The "she" in question refers to the word ''manus'' from the full phrase ''manus haec inimica tyrannis ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem'', which means "this hand, an enemy to tyrants, seeks with the sword a quiet peace under liberty." It was written c. 1660 by English soldier-statesman
Algernon Sidney Algernon Sidney or Sydney (15 January 1623 – 7 December 1683) was an English politician, republican political theorist and colonel. A member of the middle part of the Long Parliament and commissioner of the trial of King Charles I of Englan ...
, who was an opponent of Charles II and who was later executed for treason. The motto was first adopted in 1775 by the
Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from th ...
(the official name of the state legislature) and applied to the temporary seal of Massachusetts. On December 13, 1780, the legislature approved its application to the current
Great Seal of Massachusetts The Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts contains the coat of arms of Massachusetts. The coat of arms is encircled by the Latin text "Sigillum Reipublicæ Massachusettensis" (literally, ''The Seal of the Republic of Massachusetts''). ...
.


See also

*
List of Massachusetts state symbols This is a list of official symbols of the United States Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Official symbols of the commonwealth are codified in Chapter 2 of the Massachusetts General Laws. State symbols *United States quarter dollar – Massachu ...
*
Flag of Massachusetts The flag of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the flag of Massachusetts. It has been represented by official but limited-purpose flags since 1676, though until 1908 it had no state flag ''per se'' to represent its government. A variant of the ...
*
List of U.S. state and territory mottos Most of the United States' 50 states have a state motto, as do the District of Columbia and 3 of its territories. A motto is a phrase intended to formally describe the general motivation or intention of an organization. State mottos ca ...


References

* Crampton, William G. ''Webster's Concise Encyclopedia of Flags & Coats of Arms.'' Crescent Books: 1985. . * Zieber, Eugene, ''Heraldry in America: The Civic Armorial Bearings of American States.'' Greenwich House: 1976.


External links


The History of the Arms and Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem Latin mottos State mottos of the United States Symbols of Massachusetts Peace in culture Liberty symbols