Audentes Fortuna Iuvat and the variations thereof is a common Latin proverb, typically translated as "Fortune favours the bold", "Fortune favours the brave" etc.. It is widely used as a slogan throughout Western civilization and history to emphasize concepts of courage and bravery, such as within various military organizations, and it is used up to the present on the coats of arms of individual families and clans.
Background
Fortune favours the bold is the translation of a Latin proverb, which exists in several forms with slightly different wording but effectively identical meaning, such as , audentes Fortuna adiuvat, Fortuna audaces iuvat, and audentis Fortuna iuvat. This last form is used by Turnus, an antagonist in the Aeneid by Virgil. Fortuna refers to luck or its personification, a Roman goddess.
Another version of the proverb, , was used in Terence's 151 BC comedy play Phormio, line 203. Ovid further parodies the phrase at I.608 of his didactic work, Ars Amatoria, writing "audentem Forsque Venusque iuvat" or "Venus, like Fortune, favors the bold."
Pliny the Younger quotes his uncle, Pliny the Elder, as using the phrase when deciding to take his fleet and investigate the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, in the hope of helping his friend Pomponianus: Fortes' inquit 'fortuna iuvat: Pomponianum pete. (Fortune', he said, 'favours the brave: head for Pomponianus.) Pliny the Elder ultimately died during the expedition.
The Latin phrase Fortuna Eruditis Favet ("fortune favours the prepared mind") is also used. Louis Pasteur, the French microbiologist and chemist, made this remark: "Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés", meaning "In the fields of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind."
The proverb may be a rewording of a line by Democritus that "boldness is the beginning of action, but fortune controls how it ends" ().
Historical examples
Poland
The motto is used by the 6th Airborne Brigade (Poland).
Australia
'Virtutis Fortuna Comes' (Fortune is the companion of virtue) is the Unit motto of the 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers; an Army Reserve unit based in Northern New South Wales (The Hunter River region, hence the name) and South-East Queensland.
Brazil
The motto for the GRUMEC (Brazilian navy's special group) and COMANDOS ANFÍBIOS (Brazilian Marines Special Operations group) is "Fortuna Audaces Sequitur" (Fortune follows the brave – A sorte acompanha os audazes).
Denmark
The quote "Fortes Fortuna Juvat is used by the Jydske Dragonregiment, or Jutish Dragoon Regiment, in the Royal Danish Army.
Italy
The quote "Audentes fortuna iuvat appears in the University of Milano Bicocca logo.
Malaysia
"Fortuna Eruditis Favet is the motto of Sunway University and Sunway College.
Netherlands
The motto is used by the Cornielje family of The Netherlands alongside their coat of arms.
New Zealand
The Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own) adopted the badge of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment of the British Army, along with the motto of the Duke of Wellington "Virtutis Fortuna Comes" (see United Kingdom below). The Regiment's traditions are now carried on by Wellington Company, 5th / 7th Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. Also the motto of the Regular Force Cadets new Zealand
Portugal
The motto for the Portuguese Commandos is "Audaces Fortuna Juvat (A sorte protege os Audazes).
Romania
"audaces fortuna juvat" is the motto of the Naval Special Operations Forces known as FNOS or GNFOS.
South Korea
Motto used by the 80th Fighter Squadron stationed at Kunsan AB, Republic of South Korea.
Sri Lanka
The Motto is used by the Special Boat Squadron (Sri Lanka).
United Kingdom
Because it was the motto of the Duke of Wellington, Earl of Mornington, Virtutis Fortuna Comes is used as the motto for the British Army's Yorkshire Regiment having been previously used by one of the Yorkshire's antecedent regiments, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding [33rd/76th Foot]). It is also the motto for Wellington College, Berkshire.
A number of armigerous families use this motto, often featured on their coats of arms; these families include Clan MacKinnon, Clan Turnbull, and several Dickson families, including a number resident in Forfarshire, and the Dickson Barons Islington.
The phrase was used as the motto of the Royal Air Force station based at East Fortune, in East Lothian. The base was operational in the First World War and between 1940 and 1947.
It is the motto of the football club Linfield F.C. in Belfast.