The motto “In God we trust” is known to virtually every American, but do you know what’s the motto for the state of Florida? (This question is for Pandas living in different states.)
In fact, every single US state has its very own motto, a unifying pledge for its people which represents the nation’s common good. Interestingly, 24 of these mottos are in English, 20 in Latin, and the rest are in French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Hawaiian, and Chinook.
Mottos encapsulate the essence of every state and speak of religion, equality, history, patriotism, and other American values.
But some states have more peculiar mottos than others. For example, Washington's state motto is "Alki" or "Al-ki" in the American indigenous language Chinook. It translates as "bye and bye," but can be interpreted to mean "Into the future."
According to Forbes, this peculiar motto can be traced back to JK Duncan of Governor Stevens’ state surveying expedition that designed its territorial seal in the 1850s.
“It refers to the forward-thinking nature of the west coast settlers who named their settlement New York when they built it at Alki Point.”
Other interesting mottos include: "Live free or die" for New Hampshire, "To be rather than to seem" for North Carolina, and "Mountaineers are always free" for West Virginia.
One unique example is Alaska, which adopted the motto "North to the future," which speaks of Alaska as a land of promise since 1967’s Alaska Purchase Centennial.
