Fortune favours the bold

"Fortune favours the bold", "Fortune favours the brave" and "Fortune favours the strong" are common translations of a Latin proverb. The slogan has been used historically by people in the military in the Anglosphere, and it is used up to the present on the coats of arms of individual families and clans.

Salvator Rosa's 1658 painting Allegory of Fortune shows Fortuna, the Goddess of luck, as an allegory of Fortune

Background

Fortune favours the bold on the translation of a Latin proverb, which exists in several forms with slightly different wording but effectively identical meaning, such as audentes Fortuna iuvat,[1] audentes Fortuna adiuvat, Fortuna audaces iuvat, and audentis Fortuna iuvat. This last is used by Turnus, an antagonist in the Aeneid.[2] "Fortuna" refers to luck or its personification, a Roman goddess.

Another version of the proverb, fortis Fortuna adiuvat ("fortune favours the strong/brave"), was used in Terence's comedy play Phormio, line 203.[3] Ovid further parodies the phrase at I.608 of his didactic work, Ars Amatoria, writing "audentem Forsque Venusque iuvat" or "Venus, like Fortune, favors the bold."

Pliny the Younger quotes his uncle, Pliny the Elder, as using the phrase when deciding to take his fleet and investigate the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, in the hope of helping his friend Pomponianus: "'Fortes' inquit 'fortuna iuvat: Pomponianum pete.'" ("'Fortune', he said, 'favours the brave: head for Pomponianus.'")[4][5] The expedition cost the elder Pliny his life.

The Latin phrase Fortuna Eruditis Favet ("fortune favours the prepared mind") is also used. Louis Pasteur, the French microbiologist and chemist, made this remark: "Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés", meaning "In the fields of observation, chance only favours the prepared mind."

It may be a rewording of "boldness is the beginning of action, but fortune controls how it ends." Τόλμα πρήξιος αρχή, τύχη δε τέλεος κυρίη. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Historical examples
German translation in Wochenspruch der NSDAP, 22 September 1940; attributed to Carl von Clausewitz

Australia

'Virtutis Fortuna Comes' is the Unit motto of the 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers; an Army Reserve unit based in Northern New South Wales (The Hunter River region, hence the name) and South-East Queensland.

Brazil

The motto for the Brazilian Marines is "Fortuna Audaces Sequitur" (A sorte acompanha os audazes).

Denmark

The quote "Fortes Fortuna Juvat" is used by the Jydske Dragonregiment, or Jutish Dragoon Regiment, in the Royal Danish Army.[6]

Italy

The quote "Audentes fortuna iuvat" appears in the University of Milano Bicocca logo.[7]

Malaysia

"Fortuna Eruditis Favet" is the motto of Sunway University and Sunway College.

Netherlands

The motto is used by the Cornielje family of The Netherlands alongside their coat of arms.[8]

Portugal

The motto for the Portuguese Commandos is "Audaces Fortuna Juvat" (A sorte protege os Audazes).

South Korea

Motto used by the 8th Fighter Squadron stationed at Kunsan AB, Republic of South Korea.

United Kingdom

Virtutis Fortuna Comes is used as the motto for the British Army's Yorkshire Regiment having been previously used by one of the Yorkshire's antecedent regiments, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding [33rd/76th Foot]).[9] It is also the motto for Wellington College, Berkshire.[10]

A number of armigerous families use this motto, often featured on their coats of arms; these families include Clan MacKinnon,[11] Clan Turnbull,[12] and several Dickson families, including a number resident in Forfarshire, and the Dickson Barons Islington.[13]

The phrase was used as the motto of the Royal Air Force station based at East Fortune, in East Lothian. The base was operational in the First World War and between 1940 and 1947.[14]

It is the motto of the football club Linfield F.C.

It is also the motto of Liverpool John Moores University.[15]

The Latin equivalent "fortuna audentes juvat" is used as the motto for the Turing family, dating back to 1316 AD.[16]

Ireland

The O'Flaherty clan has historically used the phrase "Fortuna Favet Fortibus" as a motto.[17]

United States

It is on the crest of the 3rd Marine Regiment at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

It is the official motto of the United States Coast Guard Academy Class of 1982, which has produced more Coast Guard flag officers than any other class that graduated from the Academy, epitomizing the concept of flag officers as "The best of the rest".

"Fortuna Favet Fortibus" ("Fortune favors the brave") is the official motto of the United States Naval Academy Classes of 1985, 2004, and 2012.

The motto "Fortes Fortuna Juvat" appears on the gates of Honor Hill at Ft. Benning, Georgia, where U.S. Army infantrymen ceremoniously receive the iconic cross rifle insignia.

It has been the motto of several United States Navy ships:

The motto is used by the 366th Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force and appears on the wing patch. The motto is also used by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 3rd Field Investigation Region, Detachment 327, Little Rock Air Force Base.

"Audentes Fortuna Juvat" ("Fortune Favors the Bold") is the motto of the 80th TAC Fighter Squadron (The Headhunters).

It is the unit motto for 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, stationed out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

It is the unit motto for 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, stationed out of Marine Corps Camp Lejeune, NC.

The motto is also used on the Seattle Police Department's SWAT unit patch.

The Latin equivalent "fortuna favet audaci" is the motto of Trumbull College of Yale University.

See also

References
  1. "Audentes Fortuna Juvat". merriam-webster.com. Merriam Webster. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  2. Aeneid 10.284
  3. "Latin Texts & Translations". perseus.uchicago.edu (in Latin). The ARTFL Project. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. Letters, Book 6, Letter 16
  5. "Translating Pliny's letters about Vesuvius, pt. 6. Fortune Favors the Brave". 1 January 2013.
  6. "Hæren Jydske Dragonregiment". forsvaret.dk/ (in Danish). Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  7. "Il nome e il logo". www.unimib.it (in Italian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  8. "cornielje.org".
  9. "The British Army - About the Regiment". army.mod.uk. The British Army. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  10. "Wellington College - The Wellington Identity". The British Army. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  11. "Clan MacKinnon Society". Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  12. "Turnbull Clan Association". Turnbullclan.com. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  13. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, Bernard Burke, Harrison & Sons, 1884, p. 285
  14. Pine, L.G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1st publish. ed.). London [u.a.]: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 86. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
  15. https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/
  16. Turing, Sara (2012). Alan M. Turing: Centenary Edition. ISBN 9781107020580.
  17. "Name History - The Chieftain Clan O'Flaithbheartaigh Kings and Queens of Connemara {english variants:O'Flaherty, Lafferty}". Laffertyhistory.webs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  18. "USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7)". United States Army Institute of Heraldry. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  19. "USS La Jolla (SSN 701)". public.navy.mil. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  20. "About our Namesake - John S. McCain". U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
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