Ad utrumque paratus, sometimes shortened to ad utrumque, is Latin for "Ready for either alternative" or "Prepared for both" and is a sentence attributed to Virgil. It is used as a motto on the seal of Lund University. It is also used as the motto of the Spanish Navy Submarine force.[1] The motto is also inscribed at the entrance of the Submarine School building in Cartagena's Naval Station, Murcia, Spain. The beginning (Ad utrumque) was also used as personal motto by the Spanish Monarchs in the 17th Century.[2]
Lund University was established in 1666 in the Swedish province Skåne which until 1658 was a Danish province. Thus the students at the university should be prepared for both the book and the sword – to study and to defend the country in times of war. The lion in Lund University's seal holds a book in one hand, and a sword in the other.
The French commune Monistrol-sur-Loire uses the same sentence on its escutcheon but the motif is a sword and a crosier. This suggests that utrumque (‘both’), may in that case refer to fighting and preaching.[3]