Literal Meaning
The safety of the people is the supreme law.
Origin
The phrase is the state motto of Missouri, accepted, like many other states, as an element of its state seal. It also appears on many coats of arms, sometimes in variant forms such as Salus populi suprema lex, or Salus populi suprema est. These coats of arms include the City of Salford, the London Borough of Lewisham, Eastleigh, Harrow, Lytham St. Anne’s, Tipton, Mid Sussex, West Lancashire, Swinton and Pendlebury, Urmston and Willenhall;[3] Manassas Park, Virginia, and the Duquesne University School of Law.
Explanation
Uses it as the epigraph in the form Salus populi suprema lex in his Second Treatise on Government and refers to it as a fundamental rule for government.[4] It was the inscription on the cornet of Roundhead and Leveller William Rainsborowe during the English Civil War. This motto was also endorsed by Hobbes at the beginning of Chapter 30 of Leviathan and by Spinoza in Chapter 19 of his Theological-Political Treatise. It was frequently quoted as Salus populi est suprema lex since at least 1737.
Cases Refered
The motto was featured on the masthead of the Irish medical journal Medical Press and Circular.
Edited by Vigneshwar Ramasubramania
Approved & Published – Sakshi Raje
