Per aspera ad astra or Ad astra per aspera is a Latin phrase which means any of the following:
"Through hardships to the stars", "A rough road leads to the stars" or "To the stars
through difficulties".
The phrase is one of many Latin sayings which use the expression Ad astra.
Uses Various organizations and groups use this
expression and its variants.
Literature In Hermann Hesse's Beneath the Wheel, the
headmaster of Maulbronn says this to Lucius for his futile efforts towards music.
Title of a play depicting the history of the fictional Maycomb County in Harper Lee's To
Kill a Mockingbird, in which the translation is given as from the mud to the stars.
In James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the dean of studies of Trinity
College, Dublin, uses this phrase with Stephen Dedalus when discussing whether or not Stephen
will eventually show enough artistic talent to provide the college an answer to the "esthetic
question".
Music The title of a song by Haggard from their
Eppur Si Muove album.
The subtitle of Sergei Bortkiewicz's 3rd piano concerto.
The subtitle of Moritz Moszkowski's set of fifteen Études de Virtuosité for piano,
op.
72.
The title of the first Album by Kansas Bible Company
The title of a piece by Greek composer Panayiotis Demopoulos for harp and percussion.
The Pee Wee Gaskins's album entitled "Ad Astra Per Aspera" and one instrumental in it called
"To The Stars With All We've Got".
Acceptance has an instrumental track on their Phantoms album titled "Ad Astra Per Aspera."
Educational and Research Institutions United States
California State University East Bay, Hayward, California
Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina Cornelia Strong College, University of North
Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina Greenhill School, Dallas, Texas
Saint Joseph Academy, Brownsville, Texas Lake View High School, Chicago, Illinois
Lyndon Institute, Lyndon Center, Vermont Macopin Middle School, West Milford, New Jersey
Miami Central High School, Miami, Florida Midwood High School, Brooklyn, NY
Mirman School, Los Angeles, California Morristown-Beard School, Morristown, New Jersey
Mount Saint Michael Academy, Bronx, New York Satellite High School, Satellite Beach, Florida
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey
Trinity Prep, Winter Park, Florida University High School, Fresno, California
University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, Tennessee
United Kingdom Colfe's School, Greenwich, London
Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend, Kent Dr. Challoner's Grammar School, Amersham,
Buckinghamshire Australia
Queenwood Girls School, Mosman NSW Woodville High School, Adelaide
Albury High School, Albury, New South Wales Girton Grammar School, Bendigo, Victoria
Austria Universität Klagenfurt
Ecuador Instituto Nacional Mejía,Quito, Ecuador
Estonia Keila-Joa Boarding School, Türisalu
Honduras Escuela Nacional de Música, Tegucigalpa
India Clarence High School, Bangalore, Karnataka,
India - Motto of Redwood House St.Augustine's High School, kalimpong, District:Darjeeling,
India Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India.
The Frank Anthony Public School,Kolkata,India St Joseph's High School, Dharwad, Karnataka,
India Jamaica
Immaculate Conception High School, St. Andrew Mount Alvernia High School, Montego Bay
Maldives MNDF Fire and Rescue Services Training School,
K.Viligili New Zealand
Rotorua Boys' High School, Rotorua Norway
Stavanger Cathedral School, Stavanger Sortland videregående skole, Nordland
Pakistan St Patrick's High School, Karachi
Philippines Far Eastern University - Dr. Nicanor Reyes
Medical Foundation, Quezon City, NCR Romania
Mihai Eminescu High School, Suceava Colegiul National "Andrei Saguna" Brasov
Colegiul National "Doamna Stanca" Fagaras Alexandru Papiu Ilarian High School, Targu-Mures
Andrei Mureşanu High School, Bistrița Márton Áron Gimnázium, Csíkszereda
Ovidius High School, Constanta Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent Grammar School, Kingstown Slovakia
Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies of Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava
Slovenia Prva Gimnazija, Maribor
South Africa Pietersburg Hoerskool
Sri Lanka St. Paul's Girls' School, Milagiriya, Colombo
District, Western Province Ukraine
Space Museum dedicated to Korolyov in Zhytomyr Political entities
State of Kansas Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
City of Gouda, Netherlands, in the city crest City of Embu-Guaçu, Brazil
Town of Coalhurst, Alberta Town of Roxboro, Quebec
Military and Government National Defence Academy of Latvia
Spanish Air Force South African Air Force
Military Technical Academy in Bucharest, Romania Quinto Grupo de Caza, Argentine Air Force
Department of Civil Aviation, Thailand Trenton Air Cadet Training Centre in Trenton,
Ontario, Canada Navy Special Warfare Group, EAM, United States-ST10-1X0C
Fraternities and sororities Beta Sigma Psi National Lutheran Fraternity
Sigma Gamma Phi – Arethusa Sorority Korp!
Amicitia – Estonian student sorority.
Freemasons-Knight's Templar, 32nd Degree Popular culture
Garrison Keillor routinely references the phrase as the only Latin phrase he cared to
remember on A Prairie Home Companion.
Per aspera ad astra is a Soviet Russian science fiction film by Richard Viktorov, written
by Kir Bulychov.
Rip Torn says this phrase to David Bowie in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth.
Tomo Milicevic, of the band 30 Seconds to Mars, has a tattoo on his right forearm reading
'per aspera et astra', with the band's logo in the background in red.
Popular Filipino comic writer Pol Medina, Jr. of Pugad Baboy fame
Aspera!
Per aspera!
Per ardua!
Ad astra! is the refrain of the song "Aspera" by Erin McKeown on the album We Will Become
Like Birds.
At the end of the credits of a Half-Life 2 mod called Riot Act
"Ad astra per aspera" replaces the name of a formerly deceased character on the memorial
wall in the Mass Effect 3 "Happy Ending" mod, as seen in the mod's trailer.
Said by Neil Patrick Harris in episode 18, season 4 of the TV show, Doogie Howser, M.D.
Title of a play depicting the history of the fictional Maycomb County in To Kill a Mockingbird,
in which the translation is given as from the mud to the stars.
Title of a song by Haggard, from the album Eppur Si Muove.
The name of an album by Abandon Kansas.
A line from the song "On Thin Ice" by Evereve, from the album Tried and Failed.
It is one of many hidden messages in the 2009 video game The Conduit.
Motto of the Martian Imperial Commandos in Kurt Vonnegut novel, The Sirens of Titan.
Title of a song by Seattle based band Acceptance.
Title of a song by Goasia, appearing on the album From Other Spaces
Appears on right side shoulder patch in Star Trek Enterprise, on the "newer" uniform style
shown on the series finale.
The name of an album by Stars of the Lid The official motto of Solforce in the videogame
Sword of the Stars.
Title of a song by the band Spiritual Beggars from their album Ad Astra.
Title of a song by the band Die Apokalyptischen Reiter from their album Samurai.
The quote from Battlefield: Bad Company 2 The final mission in the Mafia II video game
Line in the Answer Page song Sunflower In a tattoo piece in The Raven
The name of an album by Estonian band Põhja-Tallinn Pall Mall Cigarette Pack
Phrase has been spoofed slightly by the band Ghost in the song "Per Aspera Ad Inferi" from
their album Infestissumam literally meaning "Through hardships to hell."
Used at the end of Bungie's "O Brave New World" vidoc after the final installment of Halo.
Others A plaque honoring the astronauts of Apollo
1 at the launch site where they perished.
Inscribed on the crest of Pall Mall cigarettes packages
The theme of "POR CC XXI" by Kolese Kanisius Jakarta
See also Per ardua ad astra
Per ardua ad astra, additional uses with reference to above article
Ad astra per aspera, additional uses Per aspera ad astra, references this article
References