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alis volat propriis

Latin Phrases
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

She flies with her own wings; a motto of independence and self-reliance.

Detailed Definition
Alis volat propriis celebrates autonomy, individual strength, and the capacity to achieve without external support. In poetry, it is associated with female independence, artistic self-determination, and the Romantic ideal of the solitary genius. The image of flight recurs throughout lyric tradition as a metaphor for poetic inspiration and freedom, and this phrase gives it a specifically personal and empowering dimension that resonates across centuries of verse about liberty and selfhood.
Example
Example in poetry:
The Oregon state motto alis volat propriis has inspired many American poets to celebrate self-reliance and the capacity to rise through one's own gifts rather than patronage or inheritance; Emily Dickinson's entire career is an embodiment of alis volat propriis — she flew on her own wings entirely, publishing almost nothing in her lifetime but creating one of the great poetic oeuvres in private; A bildungsroman-style poem sequence tracing the development of a young poet might use alis volat propriis as its governing theme — the journey toward an independent creative voice; Mary Wollstonecraft's intellectual descendants in poetry — from Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Adrienne Rich — all embody alis volat propriis, claiming the right to fly on their own terms; Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is perhaps the definitive alis volat propriis poem — an enormous assertion of the self's capacity to contain multitudes and soar on its own authority
Additional Notes
Alis volat propriis is the official motto of the state of Oregon, adopted in 1987, but its roots are in classical concepts of self-sufficiency and the Stoic ideal of autarkeia (self-sufficiency, independence from external goods). The gendered dimension of the phrase is worth noting: the subject is feminine (propriis modifies alis in a feminine construction), making it particularly resonant for discussions of women's independence and women's poetry. Students should consider how the history of women's poetry is in part a history of claiming alis volat propriis — the right to fly on one's own wings without male patronage, male permission, or male critical frameworks. Related concepts include autarkeia, the Stoic self, sprezzatura (the effortless quality of the truly accomplished), and the tradition of the woman poet from Sappho through Dickinson to Plath and Rich.
Also Known As
she flies with her own wings flying on one's own wings Oregon state motto
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