Audemus jura nostra defendere (Latin "We Dare To Defend Our Rights" or "We Dare To Maintain Our Rights") is the state motto of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, depicted on a yellow ribbon below the coat of arms

Coat of arms of Alabama

The coat of arms of Alabama depicts a shield upon which is carried the symbols of the five nations which have at various times held sovereignty over a part or the whole of what is now Alabama. These are the coat of arms of France, the ancient coat of arms of Spain--Castile quartering León, the...

 and completed in 1923.

Its original source is in lines of "An Ode in Imitation of Alcaeus

Alcaeus

Alcaeus may refer to:*Alcaeus , a writer of ten plays of the Old Comedy.*Alcaeus , one of several figures of this name in Greek mythology*12607 Alcaeus - a main belt asteroid...

" (published 1781), known also by its first line, "What constitutes a State?") by the eighteenth-century liberal English philologist Sir William Jones

William Jones (philologist)

Sir William Jones was an English philologist and scholar of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages...

, which included the lines

Men, who their duties know,

But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain,

Prevent the long-aim'd blow,

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain: [...]

The words were adjusted by the director of the State Archives, Marie Bankhead Owen, and translated into Latin by Dr. W. B. Saffold, of the University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

.