Mississippi’s state motto is Virtute et Armis, meaning “of valor and weapons”. It has been part of the official coat of arms since 1894 and is a common practice to incorporate Latin phrases on government bodies and institutions. Virtute refers to positive traits essential to manhood, such as strength and fortitude.
Mississippi’s state motto is Virtute et Armis. This is a Latin phrase meaning “of valor and weapons”. Strictly speaking, the state government has never explicitly declared any phrase as the official state motto as of 2011, but the phrase Virtute et Armis has appeared on the official coat of arms of Mississippi for more than a century and indeed has that status.
The words Virtute et Armis have been the Mississippi state motto and part of the official coat of arms of Mississippi since February 4, 1894, when the state legislature adopted the coat of arms now used by the state. The coat of arms depicts an eagle against a blue shield background, with arrows in one claw and a palm branch in the other, just like the eagle that appears on the Great Seal of the United States. The name “Mississippi” appears in gold lettering above the said eagle, while below the eagle are two stalks of cotton representing one of the state’s important crops. The words Virtute et Armis appear in white letters on a red scroll that wraps around the sides and bottom of the shield, with Virtute to the left of the shield, Armis to the right, and et directly below.
Virtue is related to the English word “virtue” and therefore is sometimes translated into English as “virtue” or similar terms such as “excellence”. The Latin virtute and its root, virtus, are derived from the Latin word for “man,” vir, and so virtute often has the more specific connotation of virility. Thus, unlike the more general meaning of the word “virtue” in modern English, virtue often refers more specifically to positive traits that the Romans and many later cultures considered essential to manhood, such as strength, fortitude and other martial virtues. This is the connotation it has in the Mississippi state motto when placed next to a martial word such as armis, which means arms or weapons.
The use of the Latin Virtute et Armis as the Mississippi state motto is part of a common practice of incorporating Latin phrases on the coat of arms of government bodies and other institutions, such as universities and military forces. Nearly half of all US states use Latin mottos. Mottos that take the form of a Latin sentence listing two concepts, often virtues or descriptive terms, are a common format. Other examples include Mens et Manus, meaning mind and hand, the motto of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Lux et veritas, meaning light and truth, the motto of Yale and a number of other universities.
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