The U.S. Coast Guard and “Semper Paratus”

The Coast Guard’s motto of Semper Paratus or “always ready” was officially recognized in 1910, and thenceforth appeared on the ensign. However, no one really knows how Semper Paratus was chosen as the Coast Guard’s “phrase” and watchword prior to its formal acceptance.

Whatever the case, in 1922, Captain Francis S. Van Boskerck was inspired to write an official U.S. Coast Guard song that would rival “Anchor’s Aweigh” or “The Caisson Song.” While in the cabin of his cutter Yamacraw, which was stationed in Savannah, Ga., Boskerck put pen to paper and the lyrics for “Semper Paratus” were born. Five years later, while stationed in the Aleutian Islands, Boskerck composed the accompanying music on a dilapidated old piano in Unalaska, Alaska. The geographically diverse origins of this piece are fittingly illustrated in the song’s first line “From Aztec shore to Arctic Zone, To Europe and Far East…” Semper Paratus remains the proud standard and song of the United States Coast Guard.