M Is For Melbourne

Q Up Here For Your Refresher Course

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

About six years ago, after Princes Bridge was refurbished here in Melbourne, someone observed a small but very significant problem.

After the re-painting, it was noticed that the Latin motto for the city of Melbourne, which is painted beneath each coat of arms on every ornate lamp post across the span of the bridge, now contained an induced error.

Despite the meticulous project, the letter Q in the motto was showing up as an O instead. The city's motto is ''Vires acquirit eundo'' or "we gather strength as we go". But the fresh gold paint rendered the second word as "acouirit" instead.

Understandably, there aren't too many Latin scholars around in these times, so the revelation caused a flurry of activity, followed by verification processes, which in turn were followed by some hasty fresh paintwork.

According to the City of Melbourne website, the motto was suggested by a Judge Willis, a Latin scholar who served as the inaugural judge of the new district in the colony.

So when I walked across the bridge recently, I was reminded of how the error crept in. As you can see from these shots, we have been minding our Ps and Qs.


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