LUDUS POPULI, PRO POPULO – a game of the people, for the people.
That is the Latin motto of the AFL. I did not know this until today, and thanks to a book by Sam Duncan, titled Footy Grounds to Grandstands, I now do.
Unless you’re a catholic priest, the Latin language is probably somewhat foreign to you. However, most AFL clubs have a Latin phrase that is synonymous with their brand.
Some may be more well-known than others, appearing on the club’s logo, or as part of their official branding, whereas others are little more than a footnote in the history of the team.
I’m a pretty intrepid kind of fella, and I love a bit of footy history, so when I started to have a look at these phrases for each team, I started to wonder whether everyone had one at some stage and how apt it is in the modern game. Of course, I came to the conclusion that others may be interested in the subject, so why not get a few words written down so that people are more aware of them?
Or, they can ignore them… which is also fine.
We’ll go alphabetically, because… I already had the teams written down. Intrepid, yes… but also just a little bit lazy.
Also, the translations can be a bit iffy, depending on what tool you use or how you misspell things, which is a bit of a calling card for me in my sleep-deprived state, so please keep that in mind.
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