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Michigan State Motto

Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice	Language:Latin
Translation:If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you	Adoption:1835

State mottoes may be said to reflect the character and beliefs of the citizens of the state, or more accurately, the citizens of the state when they were adopted. State mottoes can help us gain insight into the history of a state. [What is a motto? ]

The Michigan Compiled Laws

Michigan's motto is not an official state motto, as such, but was accepted as an element of its coat of arms and seal. The following information is excerpted from the Michigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 2, Section 22.

CHAPTER 2. STATE.
SECTION 2.22.

2.22 State coat-of-arms; emblazonment.

Sec. 2.
The coat-of-arms shall be blazoned as follows:
Chief, Azure, motto argent Tuebor;
Charge, Azure, sun-rayed rising sinister proper, lake wavey proper, peninsula dexter grassy proper, man dexter on peninsula, rustic, habited, dexter arm-raised, dexter turned, sinister arm with gun stock resting, all proper;
Crest, On a wreath azure and or, an American eagle rising to the dexter, tips of wings partly lowered to base, all proper, dexter talon holding an olive branch with 13 fruit, sinister talon holding a sheaf of 3 arrows, all proper. Over his head a sky azure environed with a scroll gules with the motto “E Pluribus Unum” argent;
Supporters;
Dexter, An elk rampant, proper;
Sinister, A moose rampant, proper;
Mottoes, On the scroll unending superior narrow argent, in sable, the motto, “Si quaeris peninsulam, amoenam.”
On the scroll unending inferior, broader argent in sable the motto “circumspice.”
Observations:
Scroll support and conventional leaf design between shield and scroll superior or;
Escutcheon supporters rest on the scroll supports and leaf design.

History: 1911, Act 209, Eff. Aug. 1, 1911 ;-- CL 1915, 1099 ;-- CL 1929, 135 ;-- CL 1948, 2.22

Additional Information

State Motto List: List of all of the state mottoes.

State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide, Third Edition - Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Greenwood Press, 2002

State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols: A Study based on historical documents giving the origin and significance of the state names, nicknames, mottoes, seals, flowers, birds, songs, and descriptive comments on the capitol buildings and on some of the leading state histories, Revised Edition - George Earlie Shankle, Ph.D., The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938 (Reprint Services Corp. 1971)

Source: Michigan Compiled Laws, (http://www.legislature.mi.gov/mileg.asp?page=ChapterIndex), March 22, 2005
Source: Merriam-Webster Online, (http://www.m-w.com/), March 3, 2005
Source: State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide, Third Edition - Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Greenwood Press, 2002
Source: State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols: Revised Edition (Reprint)- George Earlie Shankle, Ph.D., The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938

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