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Ohio’s state motto has been “With God All Things Are Possible” since 1959, suggested by a sixth-grader. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged its use in 1997, but the United States District Court ruled in favor of the state. The previous motto, Imperium in Imperior, was abolished in 1865 after just two years due to its pretentiousness.
The state of Ohio has had two mottos, each of which made people miserable for different reasons. “With God All Things Are Possible” became the Ohio state motto in 1959 and remains the official motto today. It was chosen at the suggestion of a boy, Giacomo Mastronardo of Cincinnati, who submitted the biblical phrase to the state. Ohio’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit in 1997 challenging the motto’s use on the state seal and in other official functions, such as display on state buildings and official stationery. The ACLU’s lawsuit called Ohio’s new state motto unconstitutional, arguing that it clearly stated a preference for Christianity over other forms of religion.
The United States District Court in Ohio ruled in 1998 against the ACLU and its co-plaintiff, a minister of the Presbyterian faith. The court said Ohio’s state motto is no more sectarian than other Biblical phrases that have come into common usage. The ruling went in favor of the defendants, including the state governor, a state senator, the Commissioner of the Tax Department and the secretary of state. The ruling cited the United States’ use of “In God We Trust” as the country’s motto and a handful of other states’ mottos, which also refer to God. Ohio’s state motto could remain in service official, including its inscription on a public building.
“With God all things are possible” replaced the original motto, Imperium in Imperior. Ohio’s first state motto means “An empire within an empire.” It reigned as the official motto for just two years after its adoption in 1865. Ohio got rid of the motto because the phrase “smacked too much of royalty” and gave the state a pretentious air. Some people didn’t even like it because it was a Latin phrase.
One Republican governor, Jacob D. Cox, a former Civil War general, supported the Latin phrase. Democrats of the time disliked him intensely, saying he didn’t fit into democracy. When a majority of Democrats took office in the next election, they abolished Ohio’s first state motto.
For more than 90 years after the Democrats’ action, there was no official state motto. James Mastronardo, who went by the name Jimmie, changed that with his suggestion of “With God all things are possible.” He was a sixth grader who attended Hartwell School in his hometown.
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