Annie Russell, digital.vpr.net
image from article
It's official - Vermont now has a Latin motto.
Gov. Peter Shumlin signed it into law Friday at a ceremony at the University of Vermont.
He was joined by Angela Kubicke, the freshman at St. Johnsbury Academy who composed [JB - see below Wikipedia entry] the motto. The text, "Stella Quarta Decima Fulgeat," translates to "Let the Fourteenth Star Shine Bright."
Kubicke came up with the idea last year while she was studying classic literature and language.
While perhaps not the most pressing issue at the Statehouse this session, the measure was not without controversy. The bill had unleashed a flood of negative comments on social media from immigration opponents.
Critics condemned a "Latin American” motto for an American state. But Kubicke has said that only highlights the need to keep teaching the classics in Vermont schools.
Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning sponsored the bill.
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Stella quarta decima
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stella quarta decima (Latin "The Fourteenth Star") is a motto appearing on Vermont copper coinage struck in 1785 and 1786. The coins were issued during the period when Vermont was an independent state (1777–1791), sometimes referred to as the Vermont Republic.
The motto appears on the reverse of the coin and encircles a corona of 13 small stars representing the existing United States, with a large central star with an eye contained within. The motto expresses the then independent state's aspiration to join the United States as the fourteenth state.
Vermont was admitted to the United States on March 4, 1791.
"Stella Quarta Decima" became the official state motto on April 10, 2015[1]
References[edit]
- de Albuquerque, Martin. Notes and Queries: Medium of Inter-Communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, Etc. Bell & Daldy, London: 1862.
- Doyle, William T. The Vermont Political Tradition and Those Who Helped Make It. Doyle Publisher: 1987.ISBN 0-9615486-1-4.
- Mussey, Barrows. Vermont Heritage, a Picture Story. A.A. Wyn, Inc.: 1947.
- Ryder, Hillyer. Colonial Coins of Vermont. Durst: 1982. ISBN 978-0-915262-65-6.
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