Left In Alabama

What I Learned Today

by: Redeye

Mon Jan 26, 2009 at 19:16:43 PM CST


Alabama has a creed and a motto.  

Here is the Alabama Creed;

In 1953 the state legislature approved Act no. 244, adopting the Alabamian's Creed, as Alabama's Creed. The Alabamian's creed was written by Mrs. H.P. Thetford, Birmingham, Alabama. The creed was adopted by the Board and Council of the Alabama Federations of Women's Clubs who in turn recommended it for adoption by the state legislature.

I believe in Alabama, a state dedicated to a faith in God and the enlightenment of mankind; to a democracy that safeguards the liberties of each citizen and to the conservation of her youth, her ideals, and her soil. I believe it is my duty to obey her laws, to respect her flag and to be alert to her needs and generous in my efforts to foster her advancement within the statehood of the world.

The official Alabama Motto:

Audemus jura nostra defendere" has been translated as: "We Dare Maintain Our Rights" or "We Dare Defend Our Rights." This Latin phrase is on the state coat of arms completed in 1923.

According to a Birmingham News-Age Herald article by Marie Bankhead Owen (the director of the state Archives) dated April 23, 1939, she came upon the idea while searching for "a phrase that would interpret the spirit of our peoples in a terse and energetic sentence." A part of a poem entitled "What Constitutes a State?" by the 18th-century author Sir William Jones found in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations includes the stanza "Men who their duties know. But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain." The motto was translated into Latin by Professor W. B. Saffold, of the University of Alabama.

All Alabama license plates are reguired to have the phrase "Heart of Dixie"printed on them.

The Heart of Dixie slogan was one dreamed up in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a public relations tool. It was first promoted by the Alabama Chamber of Commerce. It was to give Alabama a distinctive motto and replace a commonly used motto of the "cotton state" (which could also be used to describe many other states). The Chamber noted that "Alabama is geographically the Heart of Dixie, Alabama is industrially the Heart of Dixie, Alabama is, in fact, the Heart of Dixie." The Chamber of Commerce advocated its use on state license plates and a bill was passed in 1951 to add it to license plates. Actual implementation of the motto on auto tags did not occur until 1955.

Who knew?

 

Redeye :: What I Learned Today
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John Wilkes Booth shouted my home state's motto as he lept from ... (4.00 / 2)
.

. . . the balcony at Ford's Theater:  "Sic Semper Tyrannis".  Virginia's motto:  "Thus ever to Tyrants".  

The motto was adopted years before Booth caterwalled them after murdering President Lincoln and was aimed at the British Crown (the "common man" overcoming the aristocracy in general).

Anyway, if I ever buy my island, I'll declare it a country, teach every resident the National Anthem(1), hoist my flag above it(2), and announce my new National Motto:  


                                                       Buy One, Get One Free.


bg
_________________________________

(1)  I'll Come Running by Brian Eno.

(2)  A Broken Heart on a Bed of Shredded Daikon.

   


Well, if I ever buy MY island (4.00 / 2)

The national anthem will be "Fruitcakes" by the prophet Jimmy Buffett, blessings upon him.

The motto will be "If it breaks, you get to keep both parts".

The flag - I dunno.



"The War in Iraq is not the disease. The War in Iraq is a symptom. Arrogance is the disease" - Bill Richardson

[ Parent ]
Flag (4.00 / 1)
White cat, guardant, with crescent on a purple field.

Work harder and work smarter!

[ Parent ]
Where does (4.00 / 2)
"Stars fell on Alabama' fit in there?

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke


My Island Nation (4.00 / 1)

Bobby McFerrin's: Don't Worry, Be Happy

Motto: Don't sweat the small stuff; it's all small stuff

Creed:  Sulum puto in quispiam ; EGO puto EGO mos utor mimosa.

Flag: Crossed cucumbers on a field of sweet potatoe pies



A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead  


No comments on my Latin. It's marginally worse than my English. (0.00 / 0)


A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead  


[ Parent ]
You're one of the good people on planet earth, but . . . (0.00 / 0)
.
 . . . my island'll be cooler than yours.  Just saying.

bg
____________________________________________


[ Parent ]
To maintain a calm and civil debate... (0.00 / 0)
I don't bleepin' THINK so!

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead  


[ Parent ]
Stars Fell on Alabama (0.00 / 0)

In 2002 the phrase "Stars Fell on Alabama" began to appear on license plates. It refers to the night of November 12, 1833, when a fantastic meteor shower seen across the Southeast caused this night to be known as “the night stars fell on Alabama.” The shower created such great excitement across the state that it became a part of Alabama folklore and for years was used to date events. A century later it inspired a song and book.

Source (probably the same one where Redeye learned what he learned): http://www.archives.state.al.us/emblems/emblems.html

The little town of Holtville on the west side of Lake Jordon north of Montgomery is known locally as Slapout, AL (but that’s another story) and may still have a sign on the highway as it did for years declaring that Slapout is where the stars fell on Alabama.

About 20 miles southeast of Slapout and just about 2 miles from my home is what’s known as The Wetumpka Crater where something actually did fall from the sky and strike ground millions of years ago. See

http://www.cityofwetumpka.com/Default.asp?ID=145&pg=Wetumpka+Impact+Crater

 Class dismissed.    :-)

 



"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...."      Hosea 4:6

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