Esto perpetua

Great Seal of Idaho with the state motto "esto perpetua"

Esto perpetua (Latin "Let it be perpetual") is the state motto of Idaho. The motto appears on the back of the 2007 Idaho quarter.

The words are traced back to the Venetian theologian and mathematician Paolo Sarpi (1552–1623), also known as Fra Paolo. The day before his death he had dictated three replies to questions on affairs of state, and his last words were "Esto perpetua" reportedly in reference to his beloved Venice and translated as "Mayest thou endure forever!" These words were also repeated by Henry Grattan upon the achievement of Irish legislative independence in 1782. When the designer of the state seal Emma Edwards Green described the motto on the seal, she translated it as "It is perpetuated" or "It is forever". The phrase was used by Jefferson Davis at the close of his book Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government in a wish that it may be “Written on the arch of the Union.” Of his attempt to break up the Union, he said “I recognise the fact that the war showed it to be impractical”.

The motto was also adopted by:

• HMS Tireless, Trafalgar Class Submarine Royal Navy
• The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, a farm organization constituted in Washington D.C. on December 4, 1867
• The four S. Thomas' Schools in Sri Lanka: those in Mount Lavinia, Gurutalawa, Bandarawela and Kolpity, Sri Lanka, translated as "Be Thou Forever"
• The Pirates Rugby Football Club in Dunedin, New Zealand, which was formed in 1882
• The Sigma Phi Society
• Phi Chi Fraternity of Young Harris College, established in 1891
• The Club
• Chatham Hall School, Chatham, Virginia, translated as "She will live forever"
• The motto of Springs Boys' High School, Springs, South Africa. "Esto Perpetua" has been the school's motto since it first opened in 1940.
• The motto of Springs Girls' High School, Springs, South Africa. "Esto Perpetua" has been the school's motto since it first opened in 1959.
• The Winyah Indigo Society, Georgetown, S.C., incorporated 1754.
• "Esto Perpetua" is also the motto of the four S. Thomas' Schools in Sri Lanka, including St. Thomas' College in Mount Lavinia, Bandarawela, Guruthalawa and Kolpity, Sri Lanka.