What is May The Force Be With You?

A Star Wars catchphrase used to wish someone luck, first spoken in the 1977 film 'A New Hope' and later ranked among AFI's greatest movie quotes.

Where did May The Force Be With You come from?

The line was written for 'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' and first delivered by General Dodonna to Rebel pilots before the Death Star attack.

What does May The Force Be With You mean?

It functions as a good-luck wish rooted in Star Wars mythology, where the 'Force' is an energy field that binds the galaxy, so the line asks that force to travel with the person.

How do you use May The Force Be With You?

Fans use it as a farewell before something difficult, and on May 4 they swap 'Force' for '4th' as part of the Star Wars Day pun.

Is May The Force Be With You still popular?

Yes. Star Wars Day generates fresh coverage each May, including the 2017 Twitter wave that turned Buckingham Palace meeting rumors into Star Wars Day jokes.

Why is May 4 called Star Wars Day?

Because saying 'May the 4th be with you' out loud sounds like the film's line 'May the Force be with you'.

Who first said the line in a Star Wars movie?

General Dodonna, played by Scottish actor Alex McCrindle, said it while briefing Rebel pilots in 'A New Hope'.

What is the earliest known May the Fourth pun?

On May 4, 1979, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party ran a London Evening News ad reading 'May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations' after her election win.

What did Buckingham Palace have to do with Star Wars Day in 2017?

Rumors of an emergency royal meeting hit Twitter on May 4, 2017, and users spent the day joking that the 'top secret' agenda was Star Wars Day.

Did AFI recognize the line?

Yes. AFI added 'May the Force be with you' to its list of 100 Greatest Movie Quotes in 2005.

What was Star Wars Revelations?

A 2005 fan film reviewed by Slate that cost roughly $20,000 and was praised for outshining George Lucas's prequel-era effects work.

Are there real May 4 Star Wars weddings?

Yes. In 2009 Duncan Thomson and Sammi Gardiner married on the Isle of Wight in Han Solo and Princess Leia costumes with 50 costumed guests.

May The Force Be With You

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Published September 6, 2026

The Star Wars line 'May the Force Be With You' first echoed through movie theaters on May 25, 1977, when General Dodonna wished Luke Skywalker luck ahead of the Death Star run. Four decades later the quote powers May the 4th, an unofficial Star Wars Day that Twitter, Buckingham Palace rumors, and fan weddings all fold into their annual routines.

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Overview

May The Force Be With You / May the 4th Be With You works as an on-screen good-luck send-off, spoken whenever a Star Wars character heads into a fight they might not survive4. Fans took it beyond the films by seeding it into everyday speech and internet posts every May 4, a date picked because saying 'May the 4th' puns directly on 'May the Force'7. In 2017, Buckingham Palace confusion around a supposedly urgent royal meeting collided with the date, and Twitter users spent hours photoshopping Queen Elizabeth II onto Star Wars Day signs6.

Among film buffs, the catchphrase carries extra weight because the American Film Institute placed it on its list of the top movie quotes in 2005, ranking it inside the top ten of '100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes'3. Star Wars Day itself grew out of a joke that British newspapers were already running by 1979, well before internet fandoms could organize around a shared hashtag7. The result is a line that plays two roles at once: an in-universe blessing between characters, and an outside-the-fiction anchor for one of pop culture's biggest annual pun days.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Film (Star Wars: A New Hope) / Fan culture (Star Wars Day)

Creator

George Lucas

Date

1977

The line first appeared in 'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope', which opened in U.S. theaters on May 25, 19773. Scottish actor Alex McCrindle spoke it as General Dodonna while briefing Rebel pilots ahead of the assault on the Death Star, using the words to wish Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) luck for the run4. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) then repeats it to Luke later in the same film, a moment fans single out because Solo had spent most of the movie mocking the Force as a hokey religion, and the send-off doubles as an admission that he now takes it seriously4.

How It Spread

The line broke out of Star Wars fandom into general culture through a piece of British political marketing. On May 4, 1979, after Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister, her Conservative Party bought a half-page ad in the London Evening News reading 'May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations'7. Lucasfilm's own biographer Alan Arnold logged the ad while chronicling the making of 'The Empire Strikes Back' the same year7.

Fan-made projects kept the quote in circulation through the mid 2000s. In April 2005, Slate reviewed 'Star Wars Revelations', a 40-minute fan film that cost roughly $20,000 and drew praise for out-doing the prequel-era effects work coming out of Industrial Light & Magic1. That June, the American Film Institute added 'May the Force be with you' to its '100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes' list, giving the line an official piece of critical hardware3.

Star Wars Day picked up online traction from there. A May 4, 2006 blog post on The Guardian's Culture Vulture blog opened with 'Happy Star Wars Day everyone! May the fourth be with you!' and treated the pun as an already tired joke2. By May 5, 2009, the Daily Mail ran a feature on Duncan Thomson and Sammi Gardiner, an Isle of Wight couple who married in Han Solo and Princess Leia costumes and asked their 50 guests to arrive dressed as characters from the films5. The May 4, 2017 Buckingham Palace meeting scare then handed the catchphrase its biggest Twitter surge to date, as users flooded the #BuckinghamPalace hashtag with jokes that the royal announcement was really about Star Wars Day6.

How to Use This Meme

The catchphrase typically works as a sign-off before someone attempts something risky, tedious, or otherwise dread-inducing, borrowing the exact rhythm Han Solo uses in 'A New Hope'4. On May 4, 'Force' is commonly swapped for '4th' in captions, tweets, and store promotions, and the shared date lets brands and fans reuse the joke without having to reference the original scene7. Photoshopping public figures into Jedi robes or Star Wars scenes is a common May 4 convention, as Twitter did during the 2017 Buckingham Palace speculation when users placed Queen Elizabeth II next to 'May the Fourth Be With You' signs6.