''Semper Gumby'' is an unofficial

dog Latin Dog Latin, or cod Latin, is a phrase or jargon that imitates Latin, often by what is referred to as "translating" English words (or those of other languages) into Latin by conjugating or declining them, as if they were Latin words. Dog Latin ...

motto meaning "Always Flexible," used within the

United States Military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (informally the NOAA Corps) is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( ...

, and

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

. It is a play on several official mottos such as ''

Semper Fidelis ''Semper fidelis'' () is a Latin phrase that means "always faithful" or "always loyal" (Fidelis or Fidelity). It is the motto of the United States Marine Corps, usually shortened to Semper Fi. It is also in use as a motto for towns, families, ...

'' ("Always Faithful"), ''Semper Fortis'' ("Always strong"), and '' Semper Paratus'' ("Always Ready"). ''Semper Gumby'' refers to the animated clay character

Gumby Gumby and Pokey figures ''Gumby'' is an American cartoon character and associated media franchise created by Art Clokey. He is a blocky green humanoid made of clay. Gumby stars in two television series, '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other medi ...

. The real

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

phrase meaning "Always Flexible" would be ''Semper Flexibilis''. The first use of ''Semper Gumby'' is often assigned to Captain Jay Farmer of HMM-264 in 1984. He actually flew with a Gumby character toy mounted on the standby compass on the instrument panel of his CH-46E nicknamed "Airwolf". However, the term was in use in 1977/78 in 1st Battalion, 5th Marines at Camp Pendleton. Another popular belief is that the term was first referenced by the 1st Sgt TOW Co. 3rd Tank Battalion

7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...

Marine Expeditionary Brigade A Marine expeditionary brigade (MEB) is a formation of the United States Marine Corps, a Marine air-ground task force of approximately 14,500 Marines and sailors constructed around a reinforced infantry regiment, a composite Marine aircraft group ...

(''Task Force Ripper'') prior to deployment of

Operation Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

from MCAGCC 29 Palms, Ca. on August 15, 1990. "'Marines,' my platoon commander in Nam used to tell us, 'Semper Gumby, Always Flexible.'" The

3rd Battalion, 11th Marines 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines (3/11) is an artillery battalion comprising three firing batteries, a Liaison Unit, and a headquarters battery. The battalion is based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California and its p ...

has "always flexible" as part of their official motto. ''Semper Gumby'' is also a common phrase used in the field of emergency management.

References

External links

Semper Gumby
* Military mottos United States Marine Corps lore and symbols Dog Latin words and phrases {{USCG-stub