常に忠誠を tsune ni chūsei o Semper Fi

常に忠誠を pledges loyalty, always. 常に is always, and 忠誠 is loyalty, a faithful and honest heart, the word Japanese uses to swear fealty. を points to a verb that is never said, to devote or to swear. Whether it is for your own years of service or for a Marine you are proud of is yours.

The phrase renders Semper fidelis, the motto of the United States Marine Corps since 1883, in words Japanese already had and Japanese writers have used for the motto, which Japanese writing on the Marines prints as 常に忠誠をつくせ from 1978.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 常に忠誠を.

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

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