State Motto And Slogans Of North Carolina

The Latin “Esse quam videri” Is The Official State Motto Of North Carolina. In 1893 the North Carolina General Assembly adopted the Latin words “Esse Quam Videri” (To be, rather than to seem) as their North Carolina State Motto. Until the act of 1893 There is no State Motto Of North Carolina; one of the few states without one (and the only one of the original thirteen). The Latin North Carolina State Motto originates from a section in Cicero’s “On Friendship” (De Amicitia, chapter 26). The whole phrase is: “Virtute enim ipsa non tam multi praediti esse quam videri volunt.” 

 

Translations for this Phrase (from North Carolina State Library):

 

“Fewer possess virtue, than those who wish us to believe that they possess it.”

“The fact is that fewer people are endowed with virtue than wish to be thought to be so.”

“Not nearly so many people want actually to be possessed of virtue as want to appear to be possessed of it.”

“The Numbers of the really virtuous are not so great, as they appear to be.”

North Carolina State Slogans

 

“First in Flight”

North Carolina and Ohio played a significant, but contestant role in the history of flight. The Wright brothers built their design in Ohio and flew their first flight in North Carolina.

“North Carolina: Tobacco is a Vegetable”

 

“I’m not Gay, I’m Just From North Carolina”

“North Carolina, A Hard Habit to Break”

“North Carolina: We’re Northier than South Carolina”