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
Republic (of 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.[1] When the designer of the
state sealEmma 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".
A list of places the motto was adopted by:
HMS Tireless, Trafalgar Class Submarine Royal Navy