Per Ardua Ad Astra

by Jack Dixon (January 2012)

This motto was adopted to symbolize both the goal, and the striving to achieve the goal, of the Royal Air Force from the day of its creation on April 1^st 1918. It had previously been the motto of the Royal Flying Corps from shortly after it came into existence in 1912.

To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought, supported by stone pillars on whose summits stood griffins of black marble embracing coats of arms, and banners inscribed with the device Per ardua ad astra.

The author of Customs and Traditions explains thus:

In this article we attempt to get to the truth of the matter, as to both its origin, and its meaning, which has been debated for as long a time.

ORIGIN

It seemed to us that the obvious point of departure was to establish whether the motto was in fact that of the Mulvany family.

The Mulvanys are an Irish family native of Co. Meath. Several of them live today in Kilmessan. I have been in contact with Mary-Rose (Mulvany) Carty, who put me in touch with Katy Lumsden, Chief Herald Painter of the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland. This is what Ms Lumsden wrote in reply to my inquiry:

His own home was Ditchingham House, near the village of Bungay. Photographs of the house and grounds suggest that it could not been approached by an impressive driveway.

The other two potential candidates are a hall in the estate owned by the family having the same name as the protagonist of the novel in question,³ and his old school.

Having reached this fourth dead-end, we reverted once again to the original text for other possible clues. So we read again:

To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought, supported by stone pillars on whose summits stood griffins of black marble⁸ embracing coats of arms, and banners inscribed with the device Per ardua ad astra. Beyond those gates ran a broad carriage drive, lined on either side by a double row of such oaks as England alone can produce under the most favourable circumstances of soil, aided by the nurturing hand of man and three or four centuries of time.

Our sole conclusion, and our sole possible conclusion, was that Haggard had composed the motto himself.

That being the case, only one question remains: Was the author a Latin scholar?

But it so happened that Ipswich School had a head master and a Latin teacher who were among the best classical scholars in the country. And we have two authorities to tell us that Henry was a passable scholar.

The second is the author himself, who narrates this incident in his autobiography, The Days of My Life:

MEANING

all things are possible. Horses will mate

Wild deer come fearlessly with hounds to drink.

Eclogae VIII, 31-34 tr. T.F. Royds

To comment on this article, please click here.

here.

If you have enjoyed this article and want to read more by Jack Dixon, please click here.