Ad astra#Mottos

Ad is a Latin preposition expressing direction toward in space or time (e.g. ad nauseam, ad infinitum, ad hoc, ad libidem, ad valorem, ad hominem). It is also used as a prefix in Latin word formation.{{cite web |last1=Harper |first1=Douglas |title=ad |url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?page=1&q=ad |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=24 July 2019}}

Astra is the accusative plural form of the Latin word astrum 'star' (from Ancient Greek ἄστρον astron 'star', from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ster-).{{cite web |last1=Harper |first1=Douglas |title=astra |url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?page=1&q=astra |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=24 July 2019}}

{{Lang|la|Ad astra}} is used as, or as part of, the motto of many organizations, most prominently, military air forces. It has also been adopted as a proper name for various such things as publications, bands, video games, etc. It likewise sees general use as a popular Latin tag.

{{col-begin|width=25em}}

• Ad Astra Rocket Company, Webster, Texas, United States
• Motto of Astor family{{cite book|last1=Fox-Davies|first1=Arthur Charles|title=Armorial Families: a Directory of Gentleman of Coat-Armour|date=1929|publisher=Hurst & Blackett|page=58|url=https://archive.org/stream/armorialfamilies01foxd#page/58/mode/2up|access-date=25 November 2016}}
• Innova Junior College, Singapore
• Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale, Australia
• United States Air Force Academy Class of 2007{{Cite web|url=https://www2.usafa.org/ClassData/Index/2007|title=Class Facts {{pipe}} US Air Force Academy AOG & Endowment|website=www2.usafa.org}}
• United States Coast Guard Academy Class of 1992
• USS Taurus (PHM-3)
• University College Dublin, member institution of the National University of Ireland
• Downe House School, AGN house motto

{{col-end}}

"To the stars on the wings of a pig"

• Motto on John Steinbeck's personal stamp, featuring a figure of the Pigasus.{{cite web |url=http://www.sjsu.edu/steinbeck/biography/biography_pigasus/ |title=Pigasus |publisher=Steinbeck Center}} Steinbeck's motto had an error in the Latin and used 'alia' instead of 'alas'.{{Cite web|url=https://sluggoonthestreet.tumblr.com/post/188811241794/ad-astra-per-alas-porci|title=sluggo on the street|website=sluggo on the street}}
• Title of Chris Thile's mandolin concerto

{{main|Ad Astra per Aspera}}

{{col-begin}}

"To the stars through difficulties"; "a rough road leads to the stars"; or "Through hardships, to the stars".

• Aeronautica Militare Italiana (eng.: The Italian Air Force), is the air force of the Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by King Victor Emmanuel III as the Regia Aeronautica ("Royal Air Force"). Italy was among the earliest adopters of military aviation. Its air arm dates back to 1884, when the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) was authorised to acquire its own air component.
• Albury High School in Albury, New South Wales, Australia
• Apollo 1 memorial placed at Launch Complex 34
• Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina
• Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
• Immaculate Conception High School in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, West Indies
• The State of Kansas (U.S. state motto){{cite web|date=March 2014|title=Seal of Kansas|url=https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/seal-of-kansas/18266|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706001551/https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/seal-of-kansas/18266|archive-date=2020-07-06|access-date=2020-07-06|website=Kansapedia|publisher=Kansas Historical Society}}
• Morristown-Beard School in Morristown, New Jersey
• Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx, New York City
• Starfleet, the fictional organization in the Star Trek universe
• Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, Florida
• Woodville High School, South Australia
• Rotorua Boys' High School in Rotorua, New Zealand
• Murroe AFC

{{col-end}}

"From the depths to the stars."

• Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. The official motto of the world's oldest continually operating science fiction fan social club, founded in 1934.{{Cite web |title=The LASFS Coat of Arms |url=http://www.lasfsinc.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=149 |website=www.lasfsinc.info}}

{{Main|Per ardua ad astra}}

"Through adversity to the stars" or "Through struggle to the stars"

{{col-begin}}

• Royal Air Force
• Royal Australian Air Force
• Royal Canadian Air Force (prior to 1968)
• Royal Flying Corps
• Royal Indian Air Force (1932–1950)
• Royal New Zealand Air Force
• Air Operations Branch of the Canadian Armed Forces
• University of Birmingham

{{col-end}}

{{main|Per aspera ad astra (disambiguation)}}

"Through hardships to the stars" or "To the stars through difficulties"

{{col-begin}}

• City of Gouda, The Netherlands{{cite web|url=http://www.therightproductions.nl/hogeraadvanadel/index.php?id=109&wapen=1080 |title=Gouda in the official Dutch heraldic records|publisher=High Council of the Nobility (Hoge Raad van Adel), The Hague |access-date=2019-10-28}}
• Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin{{cite web|url=http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/schwerin.htm|title=Decorations of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829222929/http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/schwerin.htm|archive-date=2008-08-29}}
• Instituto Nacional Mejía
• Coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• Municipality of Cirebon, Indonesia (during the Dutch colonial period){{cite web|url=https://igvbestanden.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/nederlands-indische_gemeentewapens_1933.pdf |title=Nederlandsch-Indische Gemeentewapens |publisher=NV Mij Vorkink|date=September 1933 |access-date=2019-07-23}}
• Title of Sergei Bortkiewicz's Piano Concerto no. 3
• South African Air Force
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• University of Klagenfurt
• Included within the Sounds of Earth audio portion of the contents of the Voyager Golden Record is a track containing the inspirational message per aspera ad astra in Morse code.

{{col-end}}

"Through boldness to the stars"

• Launch Enterprise Directorate, United States Air Force

"With full speed to the stars"

• Chilean Air Force

"Thus one goes to the stars"

{{col-begin}}

• The Philomathean Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States{{cite web |url=http://philomathean.org/ |website=Philomathean Society |title=Philomathean Society homepage}}
• The Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland
• [https://www.admiralcollingwood.com/ Admiral Collingwood Lodge], Australia
• City of Richmond, Virginia, United States
• Argentine Air Force, Materiel Command, Argentina
• The Geelong College, Australia
• Canadian Air Force (1920–1924)
• Colombian Aerospace Force
• 48 Air School in Woodbridge East London, one of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in South Africa. Other units had Ad Unum Ad Astra and Per Artem Ad Astra.
• Llandysul Grammar School, Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales

{{col-end}}

"Such is the pathway to the stars"

• Royal Canadian Air Force
• Brazilian Air Force Academy, in Pirassununga – São Paulo, Brazil. The Brazilian Air Force Academy uses the variation "Macte animo! Generose puer, sic itur ad astra!" which means: "Be brave! Young ones, this is the pathway to the stars."

"Reach for the stars"

• The Hertfordshire and Essex High School, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England
• Falcon College, Zimbabwe

"From here the way leads to the stars"

• Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

• "Ad Astra" is the title of a William Faulkner short story, found in Collected Stories of William Faulkner (New York: Vintage International).
• A derived phrase, ex astris ('from the stars'), is used frequently in NASA publications and in science fiction—see Ex astris, scientia.
• The phrase "Per Aspera, Ad Astra" is used as a motto by Golds, recalling the Earth eras pre-conquering, in the popular Red Rising science fiction saga.

• "Per aspera ad Astra" is the name of the track from the album Eppur si muove by German symphonic metal band Haggard.
• The phrase "Ad Astra" is a key phrase in Nightwish's song Shoemaker and the name of track 8 on disc two from their album Human. :II: Nature.{{Cite web |last=BraveWords |title=NIGHTWISH Announce Partnership With World Land Trust International Conservation Charity Organization; Video Featuring New Track "Ad Astra" Posted |url=https://bravewords.com/news/nightwish-announce-partnership-with-world-land-trust-international-conservation-charity-organization-video-featuring-new-track-ad-astra-posted |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=bravewords.com |language=en}}
• "Ad Astra" is the title of a song by Finnish composer Antti Martikainen from the album "Novum" released November 30, 2022.
• “Sic itur ad astra” is the title of a track on Megaliths, the second album written and performed by Edinburgh-based experimental electronic musician Daniel McGurty, and released in 2022.

• Ad Astra is a 1976 public artwork by American artist Richard Lippold. Lippold's sculpture is located outside the Jefferson Drive entrance, and in the collection, of the National Air and Space Museum.

• Ad Astra is the title of a 2019 science fiction film starring Brad Pitt.
• The phrase Sic itur ad astra was also used in the Netflix's Singaporean anime-influenced television series Trese.

• A 1984 computer game, Ad Astra is an outer space shoot-em-up with a 3-D perspective.{{cite web |publisher=World of Spectrum |title=Ad Astra |url=http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi?regexp=^Ad+Astra$&pub=^Gargoyle+Games$&loadpics=3 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120917233635/http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi?regexp=%5EAd+Astra$&pub=%5EGargoyle+Games$&loadpics=3 |archive-date=17 September 2012 |access-date=8 June 2020 |url-status=live }}
• The phrase Ad astra abyssosque is used as the motto for the Adventurer's Guild in the video game Genshin Impact.
• In the video game World of Tanks, Per Aspera Ad Astra is inscribed in the galaxy-themed Ad Astra style camouflage.
• In the video game Mafia 2, Per Aspera Ad Astra is the name of the last chapter.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20171201132050/https://www.raf.mod.uk/history/theroyalairforcemotto.cfm History of the RAF motto] (but note that this page misspells sic itur)

{{Aeneid}}

Category:Latin mottos

Category:Latin words and phrases

Category:Aeneid