Red and Rover by Brian Basset for September 29, 2024

Plus ultra (Latin: [pluːs ˈʊltraː], Spanish: [plus ˈultɾa], English: “Further beyond”) is a Latin phrase and the national motto of Spain. A reversal of the original phrase non plus ultra (“Nothing further beyond”), said to have been inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar (which marked the edge of the known world in antiquity), it has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence. Its original version, the personal motto of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, also Duke of Burgundy and King of Spain, was Plus oultre in French. The motto was adopted some decades after Christopher Columbus traveled to Guanahaní.