Kansas State Motto: Ad Astra per Aspera
Ad Astra per Aspera
Ad Astra per Aspera
The motto appears on the state seal of Kansas
- Motto
- Ad Astra per Aspera
- Language
- Latin
- Translation
- To the Stars Through Difficulties
- Adopted
- 1861
Kansas State Motto
Kansas's state motto is Ad Astra per Aspera, a Latin phrase meaning To the Stars Through Difficulties. It was adopted in 1861, the year Kansas joined the Union as the 34th state.
The motto is credited to John James Ingalls, a Massachusetts-born lawyer who moved to Kansas Territory in 1858. He later served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1873 to 1891.
Kansas State Motto Meaning
Ad Astra per Aspera is Latin for To the Stars Through Difficulties. The three key words are ad (to, toward), astra (the stars), and aspera (rough things, hardships). Some sources also translate it as To the Stars Through Hardship — both are accurate, since Latin aspera covers difficult or rough conditions.
The phrase describes a journey upward through struggle. For Kansas in 1861, that struggle was immediate and well-known. The territory had gone through years of violent conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in a period called Bleeding Kansas, which lasted from roughly 1854 to 1861.
The phrase captures the idea that Kansas earned its place in the Union through real hardship. The stars in the motto point upward toward something better on the other side of that difficulty.
History of Kansas's State Motto
Kansas was admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861, as the 34th state. The motto Ad Astra per Aspera was adopted that same year and is credited to John James Ingalls, who proposed it to the state legislature.
Ingalls arrived in Kansas Territory in 1858, settled in Atchison, and built a career in law and politics. He served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1873 to 1891 and was known as a speaker and writer. His connection to the motto made it one of the most personally attributed state mottos in the country.
The territory that became Kansas had been at the center of the national debate over slavery since the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The violence and political chaos of that period — settlers fighting over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free state or a slave state — gave the motto's phrase an immediate meaning for the people who adopted it.
"Ad Astra per Aspera" on the Kansas State Seal
The motto appears on the Great Seal of Kansas. The seal depicts a sunrise over hills, a river with a steamboat, a settler's cabin with a man plowing nearby, and a herd of buffalo being hunted on the plain. A ribbon of 34 stars runs along the upper arc, representing Kansas as the 34th state.
The seal appears on official state documents, government buildings, and publications. Kansas law designates the motto as part of the official state seal.
Kansas State Motto Facts
- Kansas's state motto is "Ad Astra per Aspera" — Latin for "To the Stars Through Difficulties."
- The motto was adopted in 1861, the year Kansas became the 34th state of the Union.
- It is credited to John James Ingalls, who later served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1873 to 1891.
- Kansas was admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861, after years of violent conflict known as Bleeding Kansas.
- The motto appears on the Great Seal of Kansas alongside imagery of the prairie, settlers, and 34 stars.
Can You Match All 50 State Mottos?
Some questions show the original motto — Latin, Italian, Chinook — and ask which state it belongs to. Others give you the English translation and ask you to work backward. Both directions are harder than they look.
Take the State Mottos QuizQuick Answers
What is the Kansas state motto?
What does "Ad Astra per Aspera" mean?
What is the English translation of "Ad Astra per Aspera"?
When did Kansas adopt its state motto?
Who created the Kansas state motto?
Sources
- Kansas Historical Society — Kansapedia: State Motto
- Kansas Secretary of State — State Symbols
- Kansas Historical Society — Kansapedia: State Seal
Kansas State Symbols
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