Per Ardua Ad Astra, a 1984 memorial sculpture by Oscar Nemon on University Avenue in Toronto, honouring fallen Canadian airmen and womenThe motto carved into the shelter at Stonefall cemetery in Harrogate, which has Air Force graves from many Commonwealth air forces
Not long after this, two junior officers were walking from the Officers' Mess at Farnborough to Cody's Shed on Laffan Plain. As they walked they discussed the problem of the motto and one of them, Lieutenant J. S. Yule, mentioned the phrase Sic itur ad Astra, from Virgil. He then expanded on this with the phrase Per Ardua ad Astra, which he translated as, "Through Struggles to the Stars." Colonel Sykes approved of this as the motto and forwarded it to the War Office. It was then submitted to King George V, who approved its adoption.[4]
Yule is believed to have borrowed the phrase from Sir Henry Rider Haggard's fantasy novel The People of the Mist (1894). The first chapter includes the sentence: "To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought, supported by stone pillars on whose summit stood griffins of black marble embracing coats of arms and banners inscribed with the device 'Per Ardua ad Astra'". It is possible that Rider Haggard had taken it from the Irish family of Mulvany, who had used it as their family motto for centuries, translating it as "Through Struggles to the Stars".
There is no single definitive translation, as both "ardua" and "astra" can carry a range of associations. The Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces most often translate it as "Through Adversity to the Stars".[5]
^here, RAF Details. . www.raf.mod.uk. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
^. RAF. 26 April 2013. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
December 01, 2023
ardua, astra, other, mottos, phrases, incorporating, latin, astra, astra, phrase, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, this, article, unsourced, material, challen. For other mottos and phrases incorporating the Latin ad astra see Ad astra phrase This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this article Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Per ardua ad astra news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Per ardua ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning through adversity to the stars 1 or through struggle to the stars 2 that is the official motto of the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces such as the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force as well as the Royal Indian Air Force until 1947 The Royal Canadian Air Force used it until 1968 when it adopted the motto sic itur ad astra a similar phrase meaning such is the pathway to the stars It dates from 1912 when it was adopted by the newly formed Royal Flying Corps Per Ardua Ad Astra a 1984 memorial sculpture by Oscar Nemon on University Avenue in Toronto honouring fallen Canadian airmen and womenThe motto carved into the shelter at Stonefall cemetery in Harrogate which has Air Force graves from many Commonwealth air forces Contents 1 Origin 2 Variants 3 See also 4 ReferencesOrigin edit nbsp Per ardua ad astra badge on the Polish War Memorial nbsp RAF badge on the 1918 headstone of Lieutenant J D Lightbody in Scheldewindeke Belgium 3 The first Commanding Officer of the Royal Flying Corps Military Wing was Colonel Frederick Sykes He asked his officers to come up with a motto for the new service one which would produce a strong esprit de corps Not long after this two junior officers were walking from the Officers Mess at Farnborough to Cody s Shed on Laffan Plain As they walked they discussed the problem of the motto and one of them Lieutenant J S Yule mentioned the phrase Sic itur ad Astra from Virgil He then expanded on this with the phrase Per Ardua ad Astra which he translated as Through Struggles to the Stars Colonel Sykes approved of this as the motto and forwarded it to the War Office It was then submitted to King George V who approved its adoption 4 Yule is believed to have borrowed the phrase from Sir Henry Rider Haggard s fantasy novel The People of the Mist 1894 The first chapter includes the sentence To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought supported by stone pillars on whose summit stood griffins of black marble embracing coats of arms and banners inscribed with the device Per Ardua ad Astra It is possible that Rider Haggard had taken it from the Irish family of Mulvany who had used it as their family motto for centuries translating it as Through Struggles to the Stars There is no single definitive translation as both ardua and astra can carry a range of associations The Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces most often translate it as Through Adversity to the Stars 5 Variants editMain article Ad astra phrase The motto of the Royal Air Force Regiment omits the ad astra part becoming simply per ardua Conversely the name of the building that originally housed the Air Ministry became Adastral House based only on ad astra The Royal Canadian Air Force and other entities including the Colombian Air Force use the similar motto sic itur ad astra and the South African Air Force uses per aspera ad astra See also editPer aspera ad astra a motto with a similar translation Ad astra phrase other similar phrasesReferences edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Per Ardua Ad Astra Frequently Asked Questions RAF 26 April 2013 Archived from the original on 2 May 2010 Retrieved 4 November 2013 Royal Australian Air Force Badge Australian Department of Defence Retrieved 1 February 2012 Scheldewindeke Churchyard www peterswar net here RAF Details RAF The Royal Air Force Motto www raf mod uk Archived from the original on 1 December 2017 Retrieved 30 January 2012 The Royal Air Force Motto RAF 26 April 2013 Archived from the original on 1 December 2017 Retrieved 4 November 2013 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Per ardua ad astra amp oldid 1170891239, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
