Rhode Island State Motto: Hope
Hope
Hope
The motto appears on the state seal of Rhode Island
- Motto
- Hope
- Language
- English
- In use since
- Colonial era
- Location
- State seal
Rhode Island State Motto
Rhode Island's state motto is Hope, a single English word that has appeared on the state seal since the colonial period. It sits above a gold anchor on a blue field, the two central symbols of Rhode Island's official identity.
At one word, Hope is one of the shortest state mottos in the country. The anchor and Hope together have remained unchanged through every version of the state seal, from the 1647 colonial patent through the current 2022 design.
Rhode Island State Motto Meaning
The word Hope pairs with the anchor as a Biblical reference. Hebrews 6:19 describes hope as an anchor for the soul, and that image gave Rhode Island's maritime anchor symbol a religious dimension alongside its geographic one.
Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams in 1636 as a colony built on the principle of religious freedom. The word Hope fit the colony's identity on two levels: it reflected the literal anchor that stood for Rhode Island's coastal economy, and it expressed the religious ideal Williams carried into the founding.
As a civic motto, Hope is also deliberately open. It points forward without claiming a specific achievement, which has allowed it to remain meaningful across nearly four centuries of the state's history.
History of Rhode Island's State Motto
Rhode Island's anchor and Hope motto trace to the colonial period. Providence Plantations received a parliamentary patent in 1647, and the anchor with the motto Hope was used in official symbolism from that era. The colony's maritime geography on Narragansett Bay made the anchor a natural choice, and the Biblical pairing gave it a second layer of meaning.
The anchor and Hope remained on the seal through American independence and statehood. Rhode Island ratified the U.S. Constitution on May 29, 1790, the last of the original 13 states to do so. Earlier seal renderings often used 13 stars to mark that fact, but Hope stayed constant in every version.
Rhode Island standardized its state seal in statute in 1875, cementing the anchor and Hope in law. The most recent change came in 2022, when the seal wording was updated to reflect the shorter state name approved by voters in 2020, removing Providence Plantations from the official text. The motto Hope was not changed.
"Hope" on the Rhode Island State Seal
The motto appears on the current state seal above a gold anchor on a blue field. The full seal reads Seal of the State of Rhode Island around the outside, with the date 1636 at the bottom marking Roger Williams's founding of Providence.
The state seal is used on official government documents, state letterhead, and state buildings. Hope has appeared in that position on every version of the seal from the colonial patent through the current design.
Rhode Island State Motto Facts
- Rhode Island's state motto is "Hope" — one English word.
- At one word, it is one of the shortest state mottos in the United States.
- The anchor and Hope pairing has been associated with Rhode Island since the 1647 colonial patent.
- The motto connects to Hebrews 6:19, which describes hope as an anchor for the soul.
- Roger Williams founded Providence in 1636, establishing the religious freedom principles behind the motto.
- Rhode Island was the last of the original 13 states to ratify the U.S. Constitution, on May 29, 1790.
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.
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Rhode Island State Symbols
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