Per Aspera Ad Astra

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.

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.
  • Music
    • 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 (published 1903).
    • The title of the first Album by Kansas Bible Company
    • The title of a piece by Greek composer Panayiotis Demopoulos for harp and percussion (2012).
  • 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
      • Macopin Middle School, West Milford, New Jersey
      • Miami Central High School, Miami, Florida
      • Mirman School, Los Angeles, California
      • Morristown-Beard School, Morristown, New Jersey
      • Mount Saint Michael Academy, Bronx, New York
      • 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
      • , Mosman NSW
      • Woodville High School, Adelaide
      • Albury High School, Albury, New South Wales
      • Girton Grammar School, Bendigo, Victoria
    • Ecuador
      • Instituto Nacional Mejía,Quito, Ecuador.
    • Estonia
      • Keila-Joa Boarding School, Türisalu
    • Honduras
      • Escuela Nacional de Música, Tegucigalpa
    • 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
    • Pakistan
      • St Patrick's High School, Karachi
    • Romania
      • Colegiul National "Andrei Saguna" Brasov
      • Colegiul National "Doamna Stanca" Fagaras
      • Alexandru Papiu Ilarian High School, Targu-Mures
      • Andrei Mureşanu High School, Bistrița
    • 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
    • St. Vincent Grammar School
      • Saint Vincent Grammar School, Kingstown
  • Political entities:
    • State of Kansas (Ad astra per aspera)
    • Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
    • City of Gouda, Netherlands, in the city crest (Wapen van Gouda, in Dutch)
    • City of Embu-Guaçu, Brazil
    • Town of Coalhurst, Alberta
  • Military and Government:
    • Spanish Air Force
    • South African Air Force
    • Military Technical Academy in Bucharest, Romania
    • Quinto Grupo de Caza (5th Fighter Squadron), Argentine Air Force
    • Department of Civil Aviation, Thailand
    • Trenton Air Cadet Training Centre in Trenton, Ontario, Canada
  • Fraternities and sororities
    • Beta Sigma Psi National Lutheran Fraternity
    • Sigma Gamma Phi – Arethusa Sorority
    • Korp! Amicitia – Estonian student sorority.
  • Popular culture:
    • 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 (Suntrip records, 2007)
    • 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 (Chapter 15) in Mafia II
    • Line in the Answer Page song Sunflower
    • In a tattoo piece in The Raven
    • The name of an album by Estonian band Põhja-Tallinn

Appears as the final mission in the game Mafia II

  • 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

Read more about Per Aspera Ad Astra:  Variants