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Spotsylvania County, Virginia (U.S.)

by Randy Young, 31 March 2004

Description of the flag

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Virginia

Description of the flag

Spotsylvania County is in the eastern portion of the commonwealth, just south of the city of Fredericksburg. The county was named for one of Virginia's colonial governors, Alexander Spotswood. The flag is a green field with the county seal displayed in the center. The seal incorporates as its focal point the full achievement of arms of Royal Governor Alexander Spotswood, for whom the county is named. For those who don't know, Spotsylvania is one of the two counties that surround the city of Fredericksburg (the other being Stafford County) on the Rappahannock River. The county is located in eastern central Virginia, and is roughly halfway between Washington, DC, and the state capital in Richmond. The county was formed in 1721 from King and Queen County. I am not sure what the motto in the arms means ("Patior ut Potiar"), but would be greatly interested to know if anyone on the list could tell me
Randy Young, 19 December 2001, 31 March 2004

Randy neglected to point out that Spotsylvania is a pun on the governor's name, "sylvania" meaning "forest" or "woods" (cf. Pennsylvania, "Penn's Woods," and Transylvania ("on the other side of the forest"). According to a couple of web sites, the motto means "I suffer (or endure) so that I may win possession (or conquer."
Joe McMillan, 2 April 2004