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Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "thus always to tyrants".
Contents
History
The phrase is sometimes said to have originated with Roman Marcus Junius Brutus during the assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC, but according to Plutarch, Brutus either did not have a chance to say anything, or if he did, no one heard what was said:
Caesar thus done to death, the senators, although Brutus came forward as if to say something about what had been done, would not wait to hear him, but burst out of doors and fled, thus filling the people with confusion and helpless fear.
The phrase has been invoked historically in Europe and other parts of the world as an epithet or rallying cry against abuse of power.
Usage in the US
In American history, John Tyler's father uttered the phrase to a school-teacher who had been tied up by Tyler and his fellow pupils.
John Wilkes Booth wrote in his diary that he shouted "Sic semper tyrannis" after shooting U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, in part because of the association with the assassination of Caesar. The phrase was also in the pro-Confederate Civil War song Maryland, My Maryland, which was popular at the time with Southern sympathizers in Maryland, such as Booth. The song, containing the phrase, is now the official state song of Maryland.
Timothy McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt with this phrase and a picture of Lincoln on it when he was arrested on April 19, 1995, the day of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The phrase is also the motto of the U.S. city Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania.
Motto of Virginia
The phrase was recommended by George Mason to the Virginia Convention in 1776, as part of the commonwealth's seal. The Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia shows Virtue, spear in hand, with her foot on the prostrate form of Tyranny, whose crown lies nearby. The Seal was planned by Mason and designed by George Wythe, who signed the United States Declaration of Independence and taught law to Thomas Jefferson. A joke referencing the image on the seal that dates as far back as the Civil War, is that "Sic semper tyrannis" actually means "Get your foot off my neck."
"Happy While United" was the slogan on a medal coined by the State of Virginia in 1780. First envisioned by Thomas Jefferson, the medal was minted and designed to be given to Indian signatories to the treaties Jefferson planned with the First Peoples of Virginia. The medal portrays a Virginia colonial sitting enjoying a peace pipe with a Native American. The obverse portrays a variation of the Virginia state seal of the state symbol standing triumphant over a slain enemy with the legend: "Rebellion to Tyrants Is Obedience to God".
The phrase is the motto of the United States Navy attack submarine named for the state, the USS Virginia (SSN-774). Before that, it was the motto of the nuclear-powered cruiser USS Virginia (CGN-38).
The phrase appears on the Insignia of the 149th Fighter Squadron which is located at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia.
The English version of the phrase is alluded to in The Big Lebowski by the character Wu, who snarks, "Ever thus to deadbeats" as he urinates upon the Dude's rug.
In House of Lies Season 3, Episode 2, "Power(less)," junior consultant Christy stabs her tyrannical boss, Monica, while uttering the full latin phrase.
In Seinfeld, Season 4, Episode 24, "The Pilot (Part 2)," "Crazy" Joe Davola cries out the phrase and then jumps off the stands into the set in an attempt to attack Jerry.