> > > Oregon's unofficial motto is "Umbrellas are for wimps." It's hardly a stirring sentiment, but it makes a lot more sense than the official motto, "She Flies With Her Own Wings," which I don't understand at all.
> > >
> > > gab"Can she fly with someone else's?"by

HEY! I actually *like* Oregon's motto, which is poetic in a "Lifted by-your-own-bootstraps" kind of way. I looked for it... it comes from the corrupted (invented) Latin phrase "Alis volat propriis" which could equally be translated in a very PC-like fashion, "He/She/It flies with his/her/its wings."

Admittedly, some of the Latin used in some state mottoes is kind of flaky. Washington's isn't even in Latin, it's just "alki", or "by and by". What kind of motto is that supposed to be, and what language is it?


> >
> > "To the stars through difficulties." Yep, that's the first thing that pops in my mind when I hear the word "Kansas".
> >

> You're kidding. Not "Per ardua ad astra"? That's the motto of a school in my city.
>
> Brunnen-"I guess we're not in Kansas any more"G

The U.S. version of the phrase is "Ad astra per aspera". The NASA space program seems to use that one, too, which would make sense. But I like your per ardua version better. :-)