Labor omnia vincit is a Latin phrase meaning "Work conquers all". The phrase is adapted from Virgil's Georgics, Book I, line 145–6: ...Labor omnia vicit / improbus ("Steady work overcame all things"). The poem was written in support of Augustus Caesar's "Back to the land" policy, aimed at encouraging more Romans to become farmers.
A frequent motto within the U.S labor movement, the phrase is a historically significant slogan. Used by the earliest U.S labor unions such as the American Federation of Labor and other precursors to the modern AFL-CIO, the motto continues to be a traditional and defining statement of purpose on contemporary labor union emblems including the International Union of Operating Engineers and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. The motto also appears on the original 1925 flag of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the labor union of African-American Pullman Company porters founded by civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph. The College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai, India and founded in the year 1794 has the phrase "Labor Omnia Vincit" in its logo. This may be the earliest adoption of the phrase by any organization.
The motto is used by the Geelong Trades Hall Council in Australia.
Cities, states, and recreation
The phrase is also a frequent motto across many townships, cities, and states. Currently the state motto of the State of Oklahoma and incorporated into its state seal in 1907, the slogan originally appeared on the territorial seal of Oklahoma Territory. In addition, it has been known to be the motto of the city of El Eulma, Algeria as shown on its coat of arms, of the towns and cities of Bradford, West Yorkshire, West Bromwich, and Ilkeston in England, the motto of Wrexham County Borough Council in Wales and the state motto of Zacatecas and city of León, Guanajuato, Mexico, and in the city of Presidente Prudente, Brazil as well as the city of Polokwane, formerly known as Pietersburg in South Africa. It is the motto of Carlton Cricket Club in Barbados. It is also the motto of Kajang High School and St Jago High School (Jamaica). It is a slogan of the football clubs Rasta IL in Norway and Luton Borough Youth in England. The phrase can be seen written in the golden letters on the so-called Kroch-Hochhaus in the center of German city Leipzig. It is also the motto of West Bromwich Albion FC • In cinema this slogan was used in a landmark French picture "Le Voyage dans la lune" or "A Trip To The Moon" a silent film brought to life in 1902 by director Georges Méliès. This is a classic vision about a group of men venturing to the moon and back. The scene in which the slogan is depicted comes at the end when they return to earth. Celebrating the triumph, a statue is brought forth with a scholar pointing to the heavens with the word SCIENCE surrounded by olive branches on the base, above this states the term LABOR • OMNIA • VINCIT *The film was ahead of its time being available in color hand painted frame by frame!
Across the world, many educational institutions have adopted the phrase as a motto, including:
Angola
Moçâmedes, est. 1840, former colonial name of currently named city of Namibe after 1985, Namibe, Angola
Argentina
Balmoral College, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Australia
Malanda State High, QLD Australia
Liverpool Boys High School, NSW Australia
Liverpool Girls High School, NSW Australia
Birdwood High School, SA Australia
Bourke High School, Australia
Captains Flat Public School, NSW Australia
Glenunga International High School, Australia
Muswellbrook High School, New South Wales, Australia.
Maitland Grossmann High School, Australia
Hampton Senior High School, Morley, Western Australia
Paddington Public School, Sydney, Australia.
(Panania Public School), Sydney, Australia
Peterborough High School, Peterborough, SA - Australia
Princes Street Primary School, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Roseville College, Sydney, Australia
Shepparton High School, Victoria, Australia
Sydney Girls High School, Australia
Hagley Farm Primary School, Tasmania, Australia
Kapunda High School, Kapunda, SA, Australia
Wellington High School, Wellington, NSW - Australia
Brasil
Macarani, city of Brazil
South Africa
H.T.S. Loiue Botha, Bloemfontein, South Africa
High School Westonaria, Westonaria, Gauteng, South Africa
South America The Bishops' High School
Robert Carruthers Primary School, Witbank, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Canada
Hamiota Collegiate Institute, Hamiota, MB
Ashton College, Vancouver, BC
Barrie Central Collegiate Institute, Barrie, Ontario
Brooks Composite High School, Brooks, AB
Hants East Rural High School, Milford, NS
Hartland High School, Hartland, New Brunswick
Huntsville High School, Huntsville
Newmarket High School, Newmarket, Ontario
Liverpool Regional High School, Liverpool, Nova Scotia
Paris District High School, Paris, Ontario
Queen Elizabeth Junior and Senior High School (Calgary), Alberta
St. Catharines Collegiate, Ontario
Brockville Collegiate Institute, Brockville, Ontario
Saugeen District Secondary School, Port Elgin, Ontario
Rosemount High School, Montreal, Quebec
W.L. Seaton Secondary School, Vernon, BC
St. John's School, St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
North Toronto Collegiate Institute, Toronto, Ontario
Elliot Lake Secondary School - ELSS, Elliot Lake, Ontario
Naicam High School, Naicam, Saskatchewan
Chile
Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera, Santiago, Chile
Liceo de Hombres Manuel Montt, Puerto Montt, Chile
Primera Compañia de Bomberos, Concepción, Chile (A firefighters company)
Gendarmería de Chile
Caribbean and Central America
Escuela Agrìcola Panamericana Zamorano, Honduras
The Bishops' High School, Guyana
St. Jago High School, Spanish Town, Jamaica
Rusea's High School, Lucea, Jamaica
The Convent High School, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica
Zeta Mu Gamma Fraternity, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
San Juan Senior Comprehensive, Trinidad
Bahamas Baptist Community College, Nassau, Bahamas
Merl Grove High School [St. Andrew, Jamaica]
Ecuador
Academia Naval Illingworth, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Honduras
Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School
Hong Kong
Queen's College, Hong Kong
St. Simon's Lui Ming Choi Secondary Technical School
India
College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai, India
Grant Medical College, Mumbai, India
Government Aizawl College, Aizawl, India
Albany Hall Public School, Kolkata, India
St. John's Senior Secondary School, Meerut, India
St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Cuddalore, India
St. Jude's School, Amritsar, India
St. Kabir Public School, Chandigarh, India
St. Mary's Convent High School, Nainital, India
St. Sebastian Goan High School, Mumbai, India
Sydenham College, Mumbai, India
Indus Academy, Hyderabad, India
Malaysia
Kajang High School, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
St. Xavier's Institution, Penang, Malaysia
Gajah Berang Secondary English School, Malacca, Malaysia
México
Benemérita Escuela Normal Federalizada de Tamaulipas (BENFT), Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas
Peru
Peruvian Northamerican Abraham Lincoln School, Lima, Peru
Romania
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Spain
Academia Cots, Alicante, Spain
Academia Cots, Barcelona, Spain
Academia Cots, Lleida, Spain
Academia Cots, Valencia, Spain
Sri Lanka
Lexicon International School, Kandy
Thailand
Assumption College, Thailand
Assumption University of Thailand, Thailand
Saint Gabriel's College,Thailand
Assumption College Sriracha, Thailand
Assumption College Samutprakarn, Thailand
Assumption College Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand
Assumption College Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
Assumption College Lampang, Thailand
Assumption Technical School Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Assumption College Rayong, Thailand
Assumption Commercial College, Thailand
Montfort College Chiangmai, Thailand
St.Louis College Chachoengsao, Thailand
Assumption College Thonburi, Thailand
United Kingdom
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham, Greater Manchester
Collingwood School, Wallington, Surrey
Cheltenham College, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Elmfield College (1863–1932), Heworth, York
Ilkeston Grammar School, Ilkeston, Derbyshire
Midhurst Grammar School, Midhurst, West Sussex.
Strathallan School, Forgandenny, Perthshire
Strathaven Academy, Strathaven, Lanarkshire
Kettlethorpe High School, Maths And Computing College, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
The Eastwood School, Leigh On sea, Essex
Villiers High School, Southall, London Borough of Ealing, West London
Tredworth Junior School, Tredworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Ysgol BrovGwaun, Ysgol Bro Gwaun - Fishguard
United States
Alpha Phi Tau Fraternity, Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio
Beverly High School Lacrosse Team, Beverly, Massachusetts
Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana
Fessenden School, West Newton, Massachusetts
Columbia City High School, Columbia City, Indiana
Gardner High School, Gardner, Massachusetts
Sumter High School, Sumter, South Carolina
Peter Donahue Mechanics Monument, San Francisco, California
Loudon High School, Loudon, Tennessee
Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, Massachusetts
The Potomac School, McLean, Virginia
Puyallup High School, Puyallup, Washington
Ghana (West Africa)
St Augustine's College, Cape Coast, Ghana
Nigeria (West Africa)
Offa Grammar School, Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria
Lesotho (Southern Africa)
Mamathe High School, Teya-teyaneng,Berea, Lesotho
Kenya ( Eastern Africa)
Mombasa Technical Training Institute, Mombasa Kenya.
Other
Bhujoharry College (Boys), Port Louis, Mauritius
Escuela Nº 1 Dalmacio Vélez Sarsfield, Concordia, Argentina
Queen's College, Hong Kong
Sekolah Menengah Gajah Berang, Melaka, Malaysia
St. Xavier's Institution, Penang, Malaysia
Elite's Co-Ed School, Kathmandu, Nepal
Outram Secondary School, Singapore
"Nicolae Kretzulescu" Superior Economic School (College), Bucharest, Romania
Universidad a distancia de Madrid,(UDIMA), Madrid, Spain
Rusea's High School, Lucea Jamaica
Instituto Mairiporã - Thomaz Cruz, Mairiporã, Brazil
St. Jago High School, Spanish Town, Jamaica
Flintstone Engineering, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Universidade A Politecnica,Maputo, Mozammbique
Greenwich University, Karachi, Pakistan
Suva Sangam College, Suva, Fiji Islands
