Pro aris et focis ("for hearth and home") and Pro Deo et patria ("for God and country") are two Latin phrases used as the motto of many families, military regiments and educational institutions. Pro aris et focis literally translates "for altars and hearths", but is used by ancient authors to express attachment to all that was most dear and is more idiomatically translated "for hearth and home", since the Latin term aris generally refers to the altars of the spirits of the house (the Lares) and is often used as a synecdoche for the family home.