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Choose the right

ring inscribed with the letters CTR, standing for “Choose the Right”, an LDS religious motto

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 16, 2025
Entity authorityQ3851701
Source-derived summary

"Choose the right" is a saying or motto among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) that is taught to children and used by members of the church as a reminder to make choices that will help an individual to live righteously. The phrase is taken from an LDS hymn "Choose the Right" by Joseph L. Townsend and Henry A. Tuckett.

History

The letters CTR, a reference to this phrase, are incorporated into a shield logo designed by Joel Holbrook Izatt Margery Cannon and Lurene Wilkinson who were Primary General Board members in the 1960s. In 1970, a church committee headed by Naomi W. Randall recommended that the shield be incorporated into official church material. Since then, both the phrase and symbol have been used in religious educational materials for LDS youth of Primary age. The symbol is also used in LDS culture by members of all ages, both as a reminder of the motto, as well as an indicator of religious affiliation. The CTR initials, displayed on the shield and in other forms, can be seen mainly on CTR rings as well as other types of jewelry, tee shirts, bookmarks and stationery.

According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, the LDS Church's stylized "CTR" abbreviation and shield with the CTR symbol are trademarked for use on finger ring jewelry by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. The phrase "Choose the Right", however, is not trademarked in the United States and may be used by anyone for commercial purposes.

CTR ring

A ring with the letters "CTR" on is often worn by members of the LDS Church as a reminder of the "Choose the Right" motto, and as a symbol of their religious affiliation.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Choose the right” as ring inscribed with the letters CTR, standing for “Choose the Right”, an LDS religious motto. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Choose, right and ring.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1970—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Choose, right and ring providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Choose the right”, the useful work is to connect “ring inscribed with the letters CTR, standing for “Choose the Right”, an LDS religious motto” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3851701. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1970.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Choose the right” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.