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Sic semper tyrannis

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Sic Semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "THUS EVER TO TYRANTS". Recommended by George Mason to the Virginia Convention in 1776, the phrase is attributed to Marcus Brutus at the assassination of Julius Caesar. It is sometimes mistranslated as "Death to tyrants."

1 Motto
2 Modern use
3 Use in Media
4 References
5 External links

Motto

It is the state motto of Virginia in the United States (and also that of the USS Virginia). The Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia shows Virtue, sword in hand, with her foot on the prostrate form of Tyranny, whose crown lies nearby. The Seal was designed by George Wythe, who signed the United States Declaration of Independence and taught law to Thomas Jefferson. The phrase is also the motto of the U.S. city Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania.

Modern use

According to some witnesses and an excerpt from John Wilkes Booth's diary, he is said to have shouted the phrase after shooting United States President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Coincidentally, both his father and his brother's names were Junius Brutus. Timothy McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt with this phrase and a picture of Lincoln on it when he was arrested on April 19, 1995, the day of the Oklahoma City Bombing.^[1]

Use in Media

The phrase has been used as the title for politically motivated songs. Virginia rock band Mae wrote a song for their August 2007 album Singularity entitled "Sic Semper Tyrannis". Progressive metal band Architect used the title in their January 2007 album, All Is Not Lost. The phrase was also used in the episode I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills of The Venture Bros. by Monarch Henchman #21. In The Pilot episode of Seinfeld, "Crazy" Joe Davola yelled the phrase as he jumped onto the stage where the show "Jerry" was being taped. The sketch comedy troop the Whitest Kids U'Know used the phrase when John Wilkes Booth jumped onto Abraham Lincoln's balcony at Ford's Theatre and started throwing random objects at him in a satirical sketch about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.