In Roman mythology, Veritas (Classical Latin: [ˈweː.rɪ.t̪aːs]), meaning Truth, is the Goddess of Truth, a daughter of Saturn (called Cronus by the Greeks, the Titan of Time, perhaps first by Plutarch) and the mother of Virtus. She is also sometimes considered the daughter of Jupiter (called Zeus by the Greeks), or a creation of Prometheus. The elusive goddess is said to have hidden in the bottom of a holy well. She is depicted both as a virgin dressed in white and as the "naked truth" (nuda veritas) holding a hand mirror. The equivalent Greek goddess is Aletheia (Ancient Greek: Ἀλήθεια).
Veritas was the Roman virtue of truthfulness, which was considered one of the main virtues any good Roman should possess. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger argues that the truth represented by aletheia (which essentially means "unconcealment") is different from that represented by veritas, which is linked to a Roman understanding of rightness and finally to a Nietzschean sense of justice and a will to power.
In Western culture, the word may also serve as a motto.
Mottos
This Latin word veritas now appears in the mottos of many colleges, universities and other organizations.
It is typically capitalized in mottoes (as Veritas) for being an ideal like Truth, Kindness and Beauty.
Veritas is the motto of:
Harvard University
Hutchesons' Grammar School
Drake University
Knox College (Illinois)
Bilkent University
the Dominican Order of the Roman Catholic Church
Providence College and Molloy College, run by the Dominicans
the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Loyola College, Ibadan
Additionally, the word appears in mottoes that are phrases or lists, e.g.:
Veritas et Utilitas: the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario
Honor et Veritas: the Buckley School of the City of New York
Veritas, Probitas, Iustitia: the University of Indonesia
Veritas Nobis Lumen: the University of Cape Coast in Ghana
Libertas, Justitia, Veritas ("Liberty, Justice, Truth"): Korea University in Seoul
Artes, Scientia, Veritas: the University of Michigan
Veritas vos liberabit (The Truth Will Set You Free): The Johns Hopkins University; and St Thomas' College (Autonomous), Thrissur, the first Catholic college in Kerala
Veritas Liberabit Vos: Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan
Verbum Tuum Veritas ("Your Word is Truth"): Monkton Combe School.
Lux et Veritas ("Light and Truth"): Indiana University and Yale University.
Vox Veritas Vita ("Speak the Truth as a way of Life"): California State University
Veritas Curat ("Truth Cures"): the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, a medical school in Puducherry, India.
Veritas Lux Mea ("Truth is my light"): in the logo of Seoul National University, Korea
Veritas, Unitas, Caritas ("Truth, Unity, Love"): Villanova University
Gratiae veritas naturae: Uppsala University in Sweden
Lux et Veritas Floreant ("Let Light and Truth Flourish"): The University of Winnipeg
Caldwell College in Caldwell, New Jersey issues a "Veritas Award" each year in honor of the Dominican Sisters who founded and administer the college.
Howard University, in Washington, D.C., goes by the motto Veritas et Utilitas, translated to "Truth and Service", which is also a motto "Truth-Service" of Payap University, Thailand.
The American communications company Verizon derives its name from the combination of the words veritas and horizon - chosen from 8,500 candidates with $300 million spent on marketing the new brand.