Service Above Self is the phrase most people associate with Rotary. It appears on pins, banners, and club websites, including this one. Rotary International has two official mottoes, though, not one, and both have a documented history. This page follows Rotary's official 2018 article on that history, then explains how the motto shows up in the Rotary Club of Cebu East's recovered pages.
The two official mottoes
In History: Rotary's two official mottoes, published 18 December 2018, Rotary International says the official mottoes are Service Above Self and One Profits Most Who Serves Best. Both can be traced back to the early years of the organization.
In 1911, the second Rotary convention, in Portland, Oregon, USA, approved "He Profits Most Who Serves Best" as the Rotary motto. Rotary says the wording was adapted from a speech that Rotarian Arthur Frederick Sheldon delivered to the first convention, held in Chicago the previous year. Sheldon said that "only the science of right conduct toward others pays. Business is the science of human services. He profits most who serves his fellows best."
The Portland gathering also inspired Service Above Self. During an outing on the Columbia River, Ben Collins, president of the Rotary Club of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, talked with Seattle Rotarian J.E. Pinkham about the proper way to organize a Rotary club, and offered the principle his club had adopted: Service, Not Self. Pinkham invited Rotary founder Paul Harris, who was also on the trip, to join the conversation. Harris asked Collins to address the convention, and the phrase Service, Not Self was met with great enthusiasm.
Those details are Rotary's, from the 2018 article.
How the mottoes became official, and which one is principal
The same article says that at the 1950 Rotary International Convention in Detroit, Michigan, USA, two slogans were formally approved as the official mottoes of Rotary: He Profits Most Who Serves Best, and Service Above Self.
The 1989 Council on Legislation established Service Above Self as the principal motto of Rotary, because it best conveys the philosophy of unselfish volunteer service.
The other motto was later reworded. "He Profits Most Who Serves Best" was modified to "They Profit Most Who Serve Best" in 2004, and to its current wording, "One Profits Most Who Serves Best," in 2010.
So if you see older wording on a plaque or in a book, that may be a dated form of the second motto, not a third official slogan.
How this sits with Rotary's mission
People who search for the "Object of Rotary" are often looking for a formal statement of purpose. Rotary's public Who We Are page, checked in November 2026, publishes a mission and a vision rather than quoting a longer formal Object on that page.
The published mission is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through a fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.
The vision statement is: together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change, across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
This article uses those official public statements. It does not quote a longer "Object of Rotary" text from unofficial copies. Rotary's guiding principles are discussed on Rotary's own learning pages for members.
The mottoes also sit beside The Four-Way Test, which asks whether the things a person thinks, says or does are true, fair, likely to build goodwill and better friendships, and beneficial to all concerned.
Service Above Self on this club's site
The Rotary Club of Cebu East has used Service Above Self as a public motto on its recovered website, and this rebuilt site keeps that line. The header describes the club with the words "Service Above Self, since 1981," a reference to the club's founding on 12 January 1981.
What the motto looks like in practice, for this club, is in the recovered project reports and on the About the club page: documented dental missions, Christmas programs, school support, feeding missions, and other work in Cebu, written up at the time by the club.
If the motto is what drew you to Rotary, and you want to visit or ask about membership, email our club president at cardwell.marc@gmail.com, or read How to join a Rotary club in Cebu. A broader introduction is on What is Rotary?.
Questions people ask
What is Rotary's motto?
Rotary has two official mottoes. Service Above Self is the principal motto, a status Rotary says was established in 1989. The second official motto is One Profits Most Who Serves Best.
What is the Object of Rotary?
This page quotes Rotary's published mission and vision from the Who We Are page, checked in November 2026. It does not reproduce a longer formal Object from an unofficial source. For member-facing guiding principles, see Rotary International's own materials.
Why does this club's website say Service Above Self, since 1981?
Service Above Self is Rotary's principal motto. 1981 is the year the Rotary Club of Cebu East was founded, on 12 January.
Sources
Facts about Rotary International on this page come from rotary.org, checked in November 2026. Facts about the Rotary Club of Cebu East come from pages recovered for this site.
- History: Rotary's two official mottoes, Rotary International, 18 December 2018
- Who We Are, Rotary International
- Home and About pages of the Rotary Club of Cebu East