“Virtue, Liberty, and Independence” Is The Official State Motto Of Pennsylvania. The State Motto, Virtue, Liberty and Independence, first appeared on the Pennsylvania coat of arms designed by Caleb Lownes in 1778. The exact origins of the National Motto Of Pennsylvania aren’t entirely clear, but it’s likely that the wording was heavily influenced by the Declaration of Independence, the seminal document that began the United State’s journey as an independent nation-state, free of the control of Great Britain.
Pennsylvania State Motto is directly related to its history as one of the first states of what would become the United States. It started out as one of the original 13 colonies that belonged to the crown of Great Britain. Beginning in 1681, the land was known a the “Pennsylvania colony,” and the city of Philadelphia became a center of political activity and commerce shortly thereafter. Leading thinkers and leaders including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington all made Philadelphia their home for at least temporary periods, and the State House there was where all the Founding Fathers met to draft the Declaration of Independence and, later, the Constitution.
The newly formed Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the completed Constitution. State Motto Of Pennsylvania is expressed in the official state coat of arms, which is displayed on the state flag, among other places. That state coat of arms was first designed in the late 1770s by a Pennsylvania iron merchant named Caleb Lownes. Lownes’ design was modified and redesigned several times before the 1870s when the Pennsylvania state legislature decided to choose an official version.