SPARS was the nickname for the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, created 23 November 1942 with the signing of Public Law 773 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The name is the contraction of the Coast Guard motto: Semper Paratus and its English translation, Always Ready. The name also refers to a spar in nautical usage. Like the other women's reserves, such as the Women's Army Corps and the WAVES, it was created to free men from stateside service in order to fight overseas.