<P> Great Seal of the State of New Mexico . No one is quite sure who came up with the term, but it appeared on New Mexico's first state seal, and was added to the seal adopted in 1913, untouched - with the small exception of changing the word "Territory" to "State". </P> <P> The official motto of New Mexico is Crescit eundo . Translated from Latin, it means "It grows as it goes" and has been criticized for appearing strange or even nonsensical at first hearing . However, the intended effect is more clear if one considers it within the context of its source in the epic poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) by first - century B.C. Latin poet Lucretius . Here, it refers to a thunderbolt increasing in strength as it moves across the sky, referenced by the selectors of the motto as a symbol of dynamic progress . </P> <P> The motto was first used in 1882, when acting Territorial Secretary William G. Ritch added the Latin phrase "Crescit eundo" to an early 1860s version of the territorial seal . In 1887, Ritch's version of the seal, including the words "Crescit eundo," was adopted by the legislature as part of the official New Mexico Territory seal and coat of arms . When New Mexico became a state in 1912, the Legislature appointed a commission to settle on a design for an official state seal . As it turned out, the commission recommended the territorial seal to be continued as the state seal, including the words "Crescit eundo" which were then adopted as the official state motto . </P> <P> New Mexico's first seal was designed shortly after the organization of the Territorial Government, in 1851 . The original seal has long since disappeared, possibly as part of the artifacts placed into the cornerstone of the Soldiers' Monument in the Santa Fe Plaza . Imprints of the original seal show it consisted of the American eagle, clutching an olive branch in one talon and three arrows in the other . Along the outside rim was the inscription "Great Seal of the Territory of New Mexico". </P>

What is new mexico's state motto and what does it mean