Brand Matters
What’s in a name? ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’

Volume 48, No. 10, June 15, 2006

This week, AIR FORCE News begins a new column in which we’ll look at branding issues and how they affect you. We’ll examine our motto, where did the Roundel come from, why do we use red, white and blue, and what is the history behind some of our greatest squadrons and assets?

Got a question you’d like us to answer? Email the editor at raafnews@defencenews.gov.au

 

THE AIR Force badge is steeped in history, as is its Latin motto, Per Ardua Ad Astra. But where did we get the words from?

In 1912, LTGEN Sir David Henderson the CO of the newly-formed [English] Royal Flying Corps (RFC) asked his officers to suggest a motto which would foster the RFC’s esprit de corps.

After many suggestions, the motto a ‘Journey to the Stars’, or ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’ in Latin, was selected. It was approved by King George V on March 15, 1913.

The motto was subsequently adopted by the RAF after its formation in 1918 and by the newly-formed RAAF in 1921.

What do the words mean? So far, no one has been able to provide a literal translation of the motto, nor state its origin with any certainty. It was used for hundreds of years by an Irish family, the Mulvany’s, and a variation of it, ‘Ad Astra per Ardua’, was used as the motto by a Scottish family.

It also appears in a book by famous English author, Sir Henry Rider Haggard. He translated ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’ as ‘Through Struggle to the Stars’.

Despite numerous attempts by the RAF and other British authorities, no authoritative translation has been possible, as Ardua and Astra have more than one meaning in Latin.

Other translations have included ‘Through Labour to the Stars’, ‘Through Adversity to the Stars’, ‘Through Hardship to the Stars’ and ‘Through Toil to the Stars’. However, the RAF translated it as ‘Through Struggles to the Stars’.

The matter may have rested there. However, in 2002 the RAAF Memorial in Canberra was being redeveloped. As part of the process, the then Chief of Air Force, AIRMSHL Angus Houston, signed off on what is now the official Air Force translation, “Through Struggle to the Stars.”

This aligned the translation with Commonwealth air forces and the dictionary meaning of the key word ‘struggle’: “to contend [resolutely] with an adversary or opposing force, task or problem; to strive”.

This is particularly apt in view of the RAAF’s early history and its proud heritage and traditions.

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