BURLINGTON — Vermont has a new Latin motto, thanks to a ninth-grader from the Northeast Kingdom who wanted to share her love of the ancient language with the entire Green Mountain State.
Stella quarta decima fulgeat, or “May the 14th star shine bright,” officially became the state’s Latin motto Friday when it was signed into law by Gov. Peter Shumlin in a ceremony in the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gymnasium.
On hand for the signing of S.2 was 15-year-old Angela Kubicke of Peacham, who asked lawmakers to establish a Latin motto, the teacher who inspired her and the state senator who made it happen.
Angela is now a freshman at Lyndon Institute. She proposed the Latin motto to her state senator, Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, after studying Latin with teacher Roy Starling at the Riverside School in Lyndonville.
“It feels pretty cool,” said Angela, all smiles and posing for photos and conducting television interviews at UVM like a seasoned politician. “It’s definitely a rush!”
Latin is woven into the English language, and American culture and government, Angela said.
“I think (people) should take away that Latin is not a dead language; don’t dismiss it, don’t throw it away,” she said.
Benning, who wore an ivy crown on his head, described how he was touched by the letter he received last year from Angela.
“Young Angela Kubicke had the idea that we have a Latin motto for this state,” said Benning, describing himself as a history buff. “It was a great idea.”
Shumlin, who gave Angela the pen he signed the Latin motto law with, agreed.
Shumlin praised Angela for persevering through a misunderstanding that turned into a social media frenzy when the suggestion of a Latin motto prompted some people to post anti-Hispanic and anti-immigration remarks.
“She took some heat from some folks who misunderstood what we were trying to do here,” Shumlin said.
Shumlin said the motto “is extremely fitting for the best state in the nation.” The governor thanked Angela for her imagination, courage and interest in seeing the idea through to Friday’s signing.
As an eighth-grader, Angela studied Latin abbreviations and mottos as part of her work for the National Junior Classical League’s annual competition, which she said is a Latin-version of the show “Jeopardy.”
Angela then discovered that Vermont did not have a Latin motto. She came upon a coin from 1785 minted at Reuben Harmon’s mint in East Rupert, when Vermont was not yet a state, which included the first three words of the new motto — Stella quarta decima, or “May the 14th star shine bright.”
The coin had been minted as Vermont was attempting to become the 14th state, Benning said.
Angela, encouraged by Starling, wrote to Benning, and had hoped to see legislation introduced last year, but it was late in the session, so the work had to wait for this year.
The new motto was signed officially into law by the governor at Vermont Latin Day, an annual celebration hosted by the University of Vermont.
Starling, who attended with other Riverside School middle school teachers and students, said the English language owes a huge debt to Latin’s root; about 80 percent of English words that have more than two syllables trace to either Greek or Latin origin.
“I think it shows that the right thing does happen, in politics and in life,” Starling said.
Teachers and students donned togas and took part in a day of competitions, contests, projects, displays, skit performances and festivities. The 39th annual Vermont Latin Day was hosted by UVM’s Department of Classics.
Benning said that a dear friend and respected professor of his, the late Sen. Graham Newell, who taught at both Lyndon State College and St. Johnsbury Academy, would have appreciated the effort to establish a Latin motto. Benning holds Newell’s former seat in the Senate.
The new Latin motto will not replace the state’s “freedom and unity” state motto, and will not go on the state seal or the state flag. It is akin to the state’s having the sugar maple as a state tree, Benning said.
Correction: The 1785 coin was minted in East Rupert.
