Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem is a Latin passage and the official motto of the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The phrase is often loosely translated into English as "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty." The literal translation, however, is "she seeks with the sword peaceful repose under liberty." The "she" in question refers to the word manus from the full phrase manus haec inimica tyrannis ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem, which means "this hand, an enemy to tyrants, seeks with the sword peaceful repose under liberty."

It was written c. 1660 by the English soldier-statesman Algernon Sidney, who was an opponent of Charles II and who was later executed for treason. The motto was first adopted in 1775 by the Massachusetts General Court (the official name of the state legislature) and applied to the temporary seal of Massachusetts. On December 13, 1780, the legislature approved its application to the current Great Seal of Massachusetts.

• List of Massachusetts state symbols
• Flag of Massachusetts
• List of U.S. state and territory mottos

• Crampton, William G. Webster's Concise Encyclopedia of Flags & Coats of Arms. Crescent Books: 1985. ISBN 0-517-49951-7.
• Zieber, Eugene, Heraldry in America: The Civic Armorial Bearings of American States. Greenwich House: 1976.

• The History of the Arms and Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

v t e Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Boston (capital)
Topics	Index Administrative divisions Congressional districts Elections Geography Geology Government History Images Law Lighthouses Music People State symbols Transportation Villages Tourist attractions Windmills
Society	Abortion Culture Climate change Crime Demographics Economy Education History of education Gun laws Homelessness LGBT rights Politics Sports
Regions	Cape Ann Central Massachusetts (Blackstone Valley, Montachusett-North County, South County) Greater Boston Greater Lowell Merrimack Valley MetroWest North Shore Southeastern Massachusetts (Cape Cod, South Coast, South Shore) Western Massachusetts (The Berkshires, Housatonic Valley, Pioneer Valley, Quabbin-Swift River Valley)
Counties	Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Dukes Essex Franklin Hampden Hampshire Middlesex Nantucket Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk Worcester Note: Nine former counties were in the District of Maine
Cities	Agawam Amherst Amesbury Attleboro Barnstable Beverly Boston Braintree Bridgewater Brockton Cambridge Chelsea Chicopee East Longmeadow Easthampton Everett Fall River Fitchburg Framingham Franklin Gardner Gloucester Greenfield Haverhill Holyoke Lawrence Leominster Lowell Lynn Malden Marlborough Medford Melrose Methuen New Bedford Newburyport Newton North Adams Northampton Palmer Peabody Pittsfield Quincy Randolph Revere Salem Somerville Southbridge Springfield Taunton Waltham Watertown Westfield West Springfield Weymouth Winthrop Woburn Worcester Note: Municipalities not listed have a town meeting form of government (see all municipalities)
Massachusetts portal