Veritas

In Roman mythology, Veritas, meaning Truth, is the Goddess of Truth, a daughter of Saturn and the mother of Virtus. She is also sometimes considered the daughter of Jupiter, 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" holding a hand mirror. The equivalent Greek goddess is Aletheia.
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 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 for being an ideal like Truth, Kindness and Beauty.
Veritas is the motto of:

Harvard University
Hutchesons' Grammar School
The University of Western Ontario
Drake University
Knox College (Illinois)
Springfield Convent of the Holy Rosary (South Africa)
Bilkent University
the University of California - Hastings College of the Law
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.:Honor et Veritas: the Buckley School of the City of New YorkVeritas, Probitas, Iustitia: the University of IndonesiaVeritas Nobis Lumen: the University of Cape Coast in GhanaLibertas, Justitia, Veritas : Korea University in SeoulArtes, Scientia, Veritas: the University of MichiganVeritas vos liberabit : The Johns Hopkins University; and St Thomas' College (Autonomous), Thrissur, the first Catholic college in KeralaVeritas Liberabit Vos: Doshisha University in Kyoto, JapanVerbum Tuum Veritas : Monkton Combe School.Lux et Veritas : Indiana University and Yale University.Vox Veritas Vita : California State UniversityVeritas Curat : the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, a medical school in Puducherry, India. Veritas Lux Mea : in the logo of Seoul National University, KoreaVeritas, Unitas, Caritas : Villanova UniversityGratiae veritas naturae: Uppsala University in SwedenLux et Veritas Floreant : 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.