Live Free or Die

"Live Free or Die" is the official motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, adopted by the state in 1945. It is possibly the best-known of all state mottos, partly because it conveys an assertive independence historically found in American political philosophy and partly because of its contrast to the milder sentiments found in other state mottos.^{[citation needed]}

The phrase was adopted from a toast written by General John Stark, New Hampshire's most famous soldier of the American Revolutionary War, on July 31, 1809. Poor health forced Stark to decline an invitation to an anniversary reunion of the Battle of Bennington. Instead, he sent his toast by letter:

By the time Stark wrote this, Vivre Libre ou Mourir ("Live free or die") was a popular motto of the French Revolution and was required as an oath of office for all legislators for the duration of the Constitution of 1791. A possible source of such mottoes is Patrick Henry's famed March 23, 1775, speech to the House of Burgesses (the legislative body of the Virginia colony), which contained the following phrase: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

The motto was enacted at the same time as the New Hampshire state emblem, on which it appears.

In 1970, the New Hampshire state legislature mandated that the phrase "LIVE FREE OR DIE" appear on all non-commercial license plates, replacing "Scenic." Some citizens altered or obscured the phrase, saying it was forced speech, in violation of the First Amendment. One said it was placed on the plates by “jingoistic, sloganeering politicians trying to apply our state motto to the Vietnam War,” in which U.S. troops were involved until 1973. That spurred "a battle between state power to compel citizens to display a message they disagreed with and determined dissenters willing to resist, even to the point of going to jail for their beliefs," according to the Valley News. As the war wound down, the issue faded, but it erupted again in November 1974 when George Maynard, a Jehovah's Witness (albeit a disfellowshipped member), covered up "or die" on his plate. He stated, "By religious training and belief, I believe my 'government' – Jehovah's Kingdom – offers everlasting life. It would be contrary to that belief to give up my life for the state, even if it meant living in bondage."

In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in the case of Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, that the state of New Hampshire could not prosecute motorists who chose to hide part or all of the motto. It likened Maynard's refusal to accept the state motto with the right of Jehovah's Witness children to refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance in public school, established in the court's 1943 decision West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.

Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote for the majority in Maynard:

We begin with the proposition that the right of freedom of thought protected by the First Amendment against state action includes both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all.