Alis volat propriis is a Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 phrase used as the motto of U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

.

The official English version of the motto is "She Flies With Her Own Wings," in keeping with the tradition of considering countries and territories to be feminine. However, because there is no feminine pronoun in the Latin words and the verb form is not inflected for gender, the phrase could be translated with equal validity as "He flies with his own wings" or "It flies with its own wings."

If macron

Macron

A macron, from the Greek , meaning "long", is a diacritic placed above a vowel . It was originally used to mark a long or heavy syllable in Greco-Roman metrics, but now marks a long vowel...

s are used to indicate the long vowels (standard practice in Latin dictionaries and textbooks), then the phrase becomes Ālīs volat propriīs.

The motto was written in English by judge Jesse Quinn Thornton

Jesse Quinn Thornton

Jessy Quinn Thornton was an American settler of Oregon, active in political, legal, and educational circles. He served as the 5th Supreme Judge of the Provisional Government of Oregon, presented Oregon's petition for official territorial status to Congress, served in the Oregon Legislature, and...

, and its Latin translation was added to the Territorial Seal adopted by the Oregon Territorial Legislature

Oregon Territorial Legislature

Oregon’s Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory...

 in 1854. The motto referred to the May 2, 1843 vote by Oregon Country

Oregon Country

The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...

 settlers at the third Champoeg Meeting

Champoeg Meetings

The Champoeg Meetings in Oregon Country were the first attempts at governing in the Pacific Northwest by United States European-American pioneers. Prior to this, the closest entity to a government was the Hudson's Bay Company, mainly through Dr...

 to form a provisional government

Provisional government

A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...

 independent of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Great Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

. During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 of 1861 to 1865 the motto on the state seal was changed to "The Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

." In 1957, the Oregon Legislature

Oregon Legislative Assembly

The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...

 officially changed the motto to "The Union" reflecting conflicting views about slavery in Oregon's early days.

In 1987, the legislature readopted the original motto, which it felt better reflected Oregon's independent spirit. The sponsors of the bill that changed the motto back to alis volat propriis included the Oregon Secretary of State

Oregon Secretary of State

The Secretary of State of Oregon, an elected constitutional officer within the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is first in line of succession to the Governor. The duties of office are: auditor of public accounts, chief elections officer, and administrator of public...

 and later Governor

Governor of Oregon

The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....

 Barbara Roberts

Barbara Roberts

Barbara Kay Roberts is an American politician from the state of Oregon. A native of the state, she served as the 34th Governor of Oregon from 1991 to 1995. She is the first and, to date, only woman to be elected to that office. A Democrat, Roberts was also the first woman to serve as majority...

, President of the Oregon Senate Jason Boe

Jason Boe

Jason Boe was American optometrist from Oregon. A native of California, he served as the forty-seventh president of the Oregon State Senate. Prior to serving in the Senate he was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives-Early life:...

, and Senate historian Cecil Edwards.

In 1999, after a short debate in committee, the Oregon House of Representatives

Oregon House of Representatives

The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....

 was presented with HB 2269. If enacted, this bill would have reverted the state motto to "The Union," but the bill failed when it reached the House floor: 30 representatives voted "aye" and 30 voted "nay." As such, the bill did not advance.

The current Oregon State Seal

Seal of Oregon

The Seal of the State of Oregon is the official seal of the U.S. state of Oregon. It was designed by Harvey Gordon in 1857, two years before Oregon was admitted to the Union. The seal was preceded by the Salmon Seal of the Provisional Government and the Seal of the Oregon Territory...

, which appears on the obverse of the state flag

Flag of Oregon

The flag of the state of Oregon is a two-sided flag in navy blue and gold with an optional gold fringe. On the front is the escutcheon from the state seal and on the reverse is a gold figure of a beaver, the state animal. Oregon is the only U.S. state to have a two-sided flag.-History:The current...

, still features the motto "The Union."