Sic semper tyrannis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "Thus always to tyrants" or "Thus ever be to tyrants". It is the state motto of Virginia in the U.S. (and also that of the USS Virginia). The Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia shows Virtue, sword in hand, with her foot on the prostrate form of Tyranny, whose crown lies nearby. The Seal was designed by George Wythe, who signed the Declaration of Independence and taught Law to Thomas Jefferson.
Recommended by George Mason to the Virginia Convention in 1776, the phrase is attributed to Brutus at the assassination of Julius Caesar. According to some witnesses and an excerpt from John Wilkes Booth's diary, he is said to have shouted it after shooting United States President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
[edit] External links
- Webster entry - audio pronunciationes:Sic semper tyrannis
it:Sic semper tyrannis nl:Sic semper tyrannis sv:Sic semper tyrannis
