While traveling in London, I came across the church of St. Clement Danes, which is the church of the Royal Air Force.

It referenced the history of the Royal Air Force during the period of British colonialism. During the British rule, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon.

What stood out to me was that the Ceylon Air Force had a motto in Sanskrit, “यत्नतस्तारका यावत्”, which likely refers to the Latin phrase “Per Ardua Ad Astra”.

The English translation of this famous Latin phrase would be “Through Adversity to the Stars”.