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I am creating a patch for my fictional team of heroes from the Terran Defense Force and I need to know if this translation is completely off or not.

I had to use machine translation so I need an expert vetting.

Original text:
Keeping the torch of freedom alive — The Strong Protect the weak

Translated text:
Servo libertatem vivere quate — Fortis est splendor infirma

I am asking here because I don't really have a lot of cash to throw around as converting my stories from shorts to comicbooks are sucking up a lot of my resources.

The text will be put on a patch on their arm so it needs to be correct.

I might even create a few patches IRL that I can hand out when I go to a comicon to present my comicbooks.

So you can understand it is really important for me the translation is correct.

I really hope someone can advice on the matter.

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  • Maybe Fortes custodiunt infirmi for the second part?
    – Henricus V.
    Commented Oct 23, 2017 at 15:16

1 Answer 1

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Machine translations are very unreliable with Latin, and I'm glad you are having it checked. The offered translation is unfortunately quite nonsensical.

I would propose this Latin translation (with a literal English back-translation):

Pro viva face libertatis — fortes infirmos tuentur.
For a living torch of freedom — the strong protect/support the weak.

To see details on the individual words I chose, you can consult any of the many online Latin dictionaries out there. The key words I used were fax, tueor (or tueri), fortis, and infirmus for "torch", "support", "strong", and "weak", respectively. If you would like some word replaced by something you think has a more fitting tone, let me know in a comment.

If you want three plus three words for symmetry, I recommend:

Vivat fax libertatis — fortes infirmos tuentur.
May the torch of freedom live — the strong support the weak.

The version vivat fax libertas (suggested by Hugh in the comments) is also possible. It is not "torch of freedom" but more like "freedom the torch" or "freedom, our torch". What is most appropriate is up to you.

To get an idea what the machine translation means, let me try to translate it back to English:

Servo libertatem vivere quate — Fortis est splendor infirma.
I protect the freedom, shake living! — The weak brightness is strong.

It doesn't make much sense, since I can only translate non-Latin to non-English.

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    Great work, Joonas. But now that you've done all the hard work (and since brevity is the soul of wit) you could save a word. Vivat fax libertas, 'Long live the liberty torch.'
    – Hugh
    Commented Oct 23, 2017 at 20:31
  • @Hugh Thanks! True, I could do that. I just felt that it worked best that the whole thing is a single clause with only one predicate, but it's certainly not the only option.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta ♦
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 4:22
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    Really appreciate your suggestions, so the inscription on the patch would go something like this: Vivat fax libertas - Fortes infirmos tuentor.... ?
    – Einar Petersen
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 13:51
  • Would work quite well with 3 words on top arch and 3 words on lower arc - Will be creating a round arm-patch from the finally distilled version
    – Einar Petersen
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 13:53
  • @EinarPetersen If you want three plus three words, I suggest vivat fax libertatis — fortes infirmos tuentur. I will update the answer with some details later today, I hope.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta ♦
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 14:56

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