Non Sibi Sed Patriae

Non silber sed patria is often misquoted by the lunatic right-wing white-supremicist and Nazi fringe, including the KKK, various gangs of armed thugs (so-called "militias") and those whose romanticizing of treason has clouded their judgement so badly that they behave as though the Confederate States of America still survive. The bad Latin of the quotation is the result of the ignorant trying to read the motto from a badly reproduced seal. The correct words are non sibi sed patriae. There were once several web sites of the lunatic fringe referred to above on which the misquoted phrase and a badly reproduced seal were displayed. These web sites are all now unavailable. Unfortunately, there are reasons even the sane and respectable might quote this phrase in its correct form. The source of the words is the epitaph of Pliny the Younger's guardian, Rufus Verginius, quoted in letter number 10 in the sixth book of Pliny's letters (emphasis added to help you find the words):

C. PLINIUS ALBINO SUO S Cum venissem in socrus meae villam Alsiensem, quae aliquamdiu Rufi Vergini fuit, ipse mihi locus optimi illius et maximi viri desiderium non sine dolore renovavit. Hunc enim colere secessum atque etiam senectutis suae nidulum vocare consueverat. Quocumque me contulissem, illum animus illum oculi requirebant. Libuit etiam monimentum eius videre, et vidisse paenituit. Est enim adhuc imperfectum, nec difficultas operis in causa, modici ac potius exigui, sed inertia eius cui cura mandata est. Subit indignatio cum miseratione, post decimum mortis annum reliquias neglectumque cinerem sine titulo sine nomine iacere, cuius memoria orbem terrarum gloria pervagetur. At ille mandaverat caveratque, ut divinum illud et immortale factum versibus inscriberetur: Hic situs est Rufus, pulso qui Vindice quondam imperium asseruit non sibi sed patriae. Tam rara in amicitiis fides, tam parata oblivio mortuorum, ut ipsi nobis debeamus etiam conditoria exstruere omniaque heredum officia praesumere. Nam cui non est verendum, quod videmus accidisse Verginio? cuius iniuriam ut indigniorem, sic etiam notiorem ipsius claritas facit. Vale.

The words non sibi sed patriae appear, sometimes slightly modified, in a number of respectable contexts: According to the U.S. Navy's Naval Historical Center's Traditions and Customs site, "There is no official motto for the U.S. Navy. 'Non sibi sed patriae' (Not self but country) is often cited as the Navy's motto, however." The phrase appears over the entranceway of the Naval Academy chapel at Annapolis, Maryland. A slightly different form, non sibi sed aliis, was once the motto on an early seal of colonial Georgia and is currently used as a motto by the Georgia Historical Society.