plus ultra
Preserved but no longer current.
The motto in the royal arms of Spam. It was 9nce Ne plus ultra ("thus far and no farther"), in allusion to the pillars of Hercules, the ne plus ultra of the world; but after the discovery of America, and when Charles V inherited the crown of Aragon and Castile, with all the vast American possessions, he struck out ne, and assumed the words plus ultra for the national motto, the suggestion being that Spain can go farther.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “plus ultra” mean?
The motto in the royal arms of Spam. It was 9nce Ne plus ultra ("thus far and no farther"), in allusion to the pillars of Hercules, the ne plus ultra of the world; but after the discovery of America, and when Charles V inherited the crown of Aragon and Castile, with all the vast American possessions, he struck out ne, and assumed the words plus ultra for the national motto, the suggestion being that Spain can go farther.
Is “plus ultra” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.