Honi soit qui mal y pense

King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter around the time of his claim to the French throne.{{cite web |url=http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/about-st-georges/history/the-order-of-the-garter.html |title=College of St George – Windsor Castle – The Order of the Garter |publisher=College of St George – Windsor Castle |access-date=4 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715135657/https://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/about-st-georges/history/the-order-of-the-garter.html |archive-date=15 July 2017 }} The traditional year of foundation is usually given as 1348 (when it was formally proclaimed).

According to Polydore Vergil's Anglica Historia, written in 1512–1513, 166 years after the event, the origin was a trivial mishap at a court function. King Edward III was dancing with Joan of Kent, his first cousin and daughter-in-law, at a ball held in Calais to celebrate the fall of the city after the Battle of Crécy.{{cite book |last1=Lawne |first1=Penny |title=Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales |date=2015 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited |isbn=9781445644714 |pages=161–162|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kp4BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT161 |access-date=30 July 2020}} Her garter slipped down to her ankle, causing those around her to laugh at her humiliation. Edward placed the garter around his own leg, saying: "{{lang|xno|Honi soit qui mal y pense. Tel qui s'en rit aujourd'hui, s'honorera de la porter.}}"{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} ("Shame on anyone who thinks evil of it. Whoever is laughing at this [thing] today will later be proud to wear it."). Scholars typically consider this version to be apocryphal, as there are no contemporary sources for it, and as garters were not worn by women at that time.

According to David Nash Ford:

{{blockquote|While Edward III may outwardly have professed the Order of the Garter to be a revival of the Round Table, it is probable that privately its formation was a move to gain support for his dubious claim to the French throne. The motto of the Order is a denunciation of those who think ill of some specific project, and not a mere pious invocation of evil upon evil-thinkers in general. "Shame be to him who thinks ill of it" was probably directed against anyone who should oppose the King's design on the French Crown.{{cite web|url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/garter.html|title=Berkshire History: The Order of the Garter|website=Berkshirehistory.com|date=2001|access-date=13 August 2020}}}}

The motto in Anglo-Norman, a dialect of Old Norman French spoken by the medieval ruling class in England, appears in the late 14th century Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as {{lang|xno|hony soyt qui mal pence}}, at the end of the text in the manuscript, albeit in a later hand. The poem is connected to the Order of the Garter.Cotton Nero A.x [http://contentdm.ucalgary.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/gawain/id/356/rec/176 128v]{{cite book

| editor-last = Waldron | editor-first = Ronald Alan

| title = Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

| publisher = Northwestern University Press

| year = 1970

| location = Evanston, Illinois

| page = 139

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99-SAHCAMmoC

| isbn = 978-0-8101-0328-3 |oclc=135649}}

In the poem, a girdle, very similar in its erotic undertones to the garter, plays a prominent role. A rough equivalent of the Order's motto

has been identified in Gawain's exclamation {{lang|enm|corsed worth cowarddyse and couetyse boþe}} ("cursed be both cowardice and coveting", v. 2374).{{Cite journal |last1= Friedman |first1=Albert B. |year=1997 |first2=Richard H. |last2=Osberg |journal= The Journal of American Folklore |title=Gawain's Girdle as Traditional Symbol |volume=90 |issue=157 |pages=301–315 |doi= 10.2307/539521 |publisher= American Folklore Society |jstor= 539521}}

While the author of the poem remains disputed, there seems to be a connection between two of the top candidates and the Order of the Garter, John of Gaunt, and Enguerrand de Coucy, seventh Sire de Coucy. De Coucy was married to King Edward III's daughter, Isabella, and was admitted to the Order of the Garter on their wedding day.{{Cite journal |last=Savage |first=Henry L. |year=1938 |journal=ELH |title= Sir Gawain and the Order of the Garter |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=146–149 |doi= 10.2307/2871614 |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |jstor= 2871614}}

File:Johnofgaunt.jpg include the garter and the motto {{lang|xno|Honi soit qui mal y pense}}. Picture from a 16th-century depiction]]

In English heraldry, the motto {{lang|xno|Honi soit qui mal y pense}} is used either as a stand-alone motto upon a motto scroll, or upon a circular representation of the Garter. Knights and Ladies of the Garter are entitled to encircle the escutcheon of their arms with the garter and motto (e.g. The 1st Duke of Marlborough).{{cite book|last=Fox-Davies|first=Arthur Charles|title=Complete Guide to Heraldry|year=1996|publisher=Wordsworth Editions|location=Ware, Hertfordshire|isbn=1-85326-365-6|pages=583–84|edition=1996|chapter=XXXVI Official Heraldic Insignia|quote=A Knight of the Garter has: (1) His Garter to encircle the shield ...}}An example of the full heraldic blazon description is provided in {{cite web|title=Official Lineages Volume 3, Part 2: The Royal Regiment of Canada|url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-3/par2/rrc-eng.asp|work=National Defence and the Canadian Forces|publisher=Directorate of History and Heritage, Canadian Forces|access-date=19 June 2012|date=24 November 2010|quote=[A] garter Azure fimbriated buckled and inscribed {{lang|xno|HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE}} in letters Or|archive-date=28 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728230207/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-3/par2/rrc-eng.asp|url-status=dead}} (A blue garter with gold edges, gold buckle and inscription {{lang|xno|HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE}} in gold letters.) However, simplified blazons are also used.{{cite book|last=Robson|first=Thomas|title=The British Herald, or Cabinet of Armorial Bearings of the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, Volume I|url=https://archive.org/details/britishheraldorc02robs|year=1830|publisher=Turner & Marwood|location=Sunderland|page=401 (CHU-CLA)}}

The latter{{clarification needed|date=September 2024}} usage can also be seen in the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, with the motto of the royal arms, {{lang|xno|Dieu et mon droit}}, being displayed on a scroll beneath the shield. As part of the royal arms, the motto is displayed in many public buildings in Britain and colonial era public buildings in various parts of the Commonwealth (such as all Courts of England and Wales). The royal arms (and motto) appear on many British government official documents (e.g. the front of current British passports); on packaging and stationery of companies operating under Royal Warrant (e.g. the banner of The Times, which uses the royal coat of arms of Great Britain circa 1714 to 1800);{{cite web|title=Scissors for Lefty review in The Times|url=http://www.scissorsforlefty.com/Press/TheTimes-SFL-LPRvw-050107%5B1%5D.jpg|work=Scissors for Lefty website|publisher=Scissors for Lefty|date=5 January 2007|access-date=20 Jun 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328034823/http://www.scissorsforlefty.com/Press/TheTimes-SFL-LPRvw-050107%5B1%5D.jpg|archive-date=28 March 2012}} Banner image for The Times; and are used by other entities so distinguished by the British monarch (e.g. as the official emblem of the Royal Yacht Britannia).{{cite web|title=Coats of Arms|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Symbols/Coatsofarms.aspx|work=Official Website of the British Monarchy|publisher=The Royal Household (2008-09)|access-date=20 June 2012|archive-date=4 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304201929/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Symbols/Coatsofarms.aspx|url-status=dead}}

Several military organisations in the Commonwealth incorporate the motto inscribed upon a garter of the order within their badges (or cyphers) and some use {{lang|xno|Honi soit qui mal y pense}} as their motto. Corps and regiments using the motto in this fashion are ('*' indicates usage as a motto in addition to inclusion in the badge):

• Also used on items, e.g., the baton, of the Society of High Constables of Edinburgh (founded 1611), along with the phrase ' nisi dominus frustra'.
• British Army: the Royal Horse Artillery;{{cite web|title=Artillery Heritage|url=http://rnza.co.nz/artillery_heritage/whatswhat/Motto.htm|work=Southern Gunners website|publisher=Royal New Zealand Artillery Association|access-date=20 June 2012|date=25 December 2010}}{{cite book|last=Wilkinson-Latham|first=Robert|title=Discovering British Military Badges and Buttons|year=2006|publisher=Shire Books|location=Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire|isbn=0-7478-0484-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1Mym2l6fb0C&pg=PA26|edition=Third|page=25}} Household Cavalry Regiment;{{cite web|title=Welcome|url=http://www.householdcavalry.info/index.html|work=Presenting the Household Cavalry Regiment ... Everything You Wanted to Know! website|publisher=Peter J Ashman|year=2012|access-date=20 June 2012}} Life Guards (motto appears in the Garter Star representation worn on Life Guard officer's helmets rather than in the unit badge); Blues and Royals; Royal Engineers;{{cite web|title=Corps of Royal Engineers Badges and Emblems|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/royalengineers/history/653.aspx|work=British Army website|publisher=British Army|access-date=20 June 2012|year=2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622224928/http://www.army.mod.uk/royalengineers/history/653.aspx|archive-date=22 June 2012}} Grenadier Guards*;{{cite web|title=The Grenadier Guards|url=http://grengds.com/|work=The Grenadier Guards website|publisher=The Grenadier Guards|year=2012|access-date=20 June 2012}} Coldstream Guards; Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment;{{cite web|title=Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/23994.aspx|work=British Army website|publisher=British Army|access-date=20 June 2012|year=2012}} Royal Regiment of Fusiliers;{{cite web|title=Royal Regiment of Fusiliers – Regimental History|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/5452.aspx|work=British Army website|publisher=British Army|access-date=20 June 2012|year=2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905220948/http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/5452.aspx|archive-date=5 September 2010}} and the Royal Logistic Corps (which in April 1993 became an amalgamation of the trades of five corps, which included the Royal Corps of Transport the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, The Royal Pioneer Corps, the Army Catering Corps and the Postal and Courier Services of the Royal Engineers, all of these forming Corps used the motto inscribed garter in their badge).{{cite web|title=Royal Logistic Corps|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/rlc/logistic.aspx|work=British Army website|publisher=British Army|access-date=20 June 2012|year=2012}}{{cite web|title=Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps of Transport Association|url=http://www.rascrctassociation.co.uk/|work=RASC & RCT Association website|publisher=RASC & RCT Association|access-date=20 June 2012|archive-date=4 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504213927/http://www.rascrctassociation.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}
• Australian Army: the Royal Australian Engineers* (motto is one of two used);{{cite web|title=Who we are – The Royal Australian Engineers|url=http://www.army.gov.au/Who-we-are/Corps/The-Royal-Australian-Engineers|work=The Australian Army website|publisher=The Australian Army|access-date=20 June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227093459/http://www.army.gov.au/Who-we-are/Corps/The-Royal-Australian-Engineers|archive-date=27 February 2012}} Royal Australian Army Service Corps (merged in 1973 into the newly raised RACT (and who did not use the motto), and the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps);{{cite web|title=Royal Australian Army Service Corps|url=http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-army-today/raasc.htm|work=Digger History website|publisher=Digger History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917082014/http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-army-today/raasc.htm|archive-date=17 September 2010|access-date=20 June 2012}}{{cite web|title=Who we are – The Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps|url=http://www.army.gov.au/Who-we-are/Corps/The-Royal-Australian-Army-Ordnance-Corps|work=The Australian Army website|publisher=The Australian Army|access-date=20 June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227093702/http://www.army.gov.au/Who-we-are/Corps/The-Royal-Australian-Army-Ordnance-Corps|archive-date=27 February 2012}}
• Canadian Army: The Governor General's Horse Guards,{{Cite web|url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-3/par1/arm-bli/GGHG-eng.asp|title=Armour, Artillery and Field Engineer Regiments - ARMOUR REGIMENTS - THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S HORSE GUARDS|last=Personnel|first=Government of Canada, National Defence, Chief Military|website=Cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca|language=en|access-date=2018-02-23}} The Royal Regiment of Canada,{{cite web|title=Official Lineages Volume 3, Part 2: The Royal Regiment of Canada|url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-3/par2/rrc-eng.asp|work=National Defence and the Canadian Forces|publisher=Directorate of History and Heritage, Canadian Forces|access-date=19 June 2012|date=24 November 2010|archive-date=28 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728230207/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-3/par2/rrc-eng.asp|url-status=dead}} The Royal Montreal Regiment*{{cite web|title=Official Lineages Volume 3, Part 2: The Royal Montreal Regiment|url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-3/par2/rmr-01-eng.asp|work=National Defence and the Canadian Forces|publisher=Directorate of History and Heritage, Canadian Forces|access-date=19 June 2012|date=9 September 2010}} and The Royal Canadian Horse Artillery.{{cite web|url=http://www.army-armee.forces.gc.ca/en/1-rcha/index.page|title=1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery -1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Unit- Canadian Army|first=Government of Canada, National Defence, Canadian|last=Army|work=forces.gc.ca|date=24 June 2013 |access-date=17 January 2017}}
• New Zealand Army: the 6th Hauraki Infantry Regiment.{{cite web|title=Sixth Hauraki Battalion Group|url=http://www.armyreserve.mil.nz/todays-reserve/units/6-hau/default.htm|work=New Zealand Army Reserve Website|publisher=New Zealand Army|access-date=19 June 2012|date=10 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219143846/http://www.armyreserve.mil.nz/todays-reserve/units/6-hau/default.htm|archive-date=19 February 2012}}

File:Elephanta Canon 1 3 inverted.jpg on Elephanta Island, India]]

• It appears on in the lower half of the coverpage for the Coverdale Bible where it surrounds the coat of arms of Henry VIII.
• It appears in The King's School, Grantham coat of arms.{{cite web|url=http://www.kings.lincs.sch.uk/|title=200 invalid-request|website=Kings.lincs.sch.uk}}
• It appears on several British military cap badges including that of the Royal Engineers. The phrase is incorporated into the elaborate figurehead of {{HMS|Victory}}, Horatio Nelson's flagship at the historic Battle of Trafalgar. Bounty mutineer James Morrison had the motto with a garter tattooed around his left leg, according to William Bligh's Notebook.{{cite web|url=http://www.fatefulvoyage.com/notebook/desc1.html |title=Fatefulvoyage.com |website=Fatefulvoyage.com |date=2010-03-17 |access-date=2012-05-31}}
• It is a motto for many schools and educational institutions; the title of the University of Sydney student newspaper, Honi Soit, is derived from the motto.
• It appears in a number of literary works, including Robert Anton Wilson's Masks of the Illuminati, Robert A. Heinlein's Friday, Bernard Malamud's The Natural, Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act V, Scene V), Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (Introduction to "The Pains of Opium"), Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (Part 1, Chapter 17), Harold Brodkey’s short story “The Nurse’s Music,” and at the end of the late 14th-century Middle English Arthurian romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
• It appears in the stage directions of Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff, libretto by Arrigo Boito, in Act 3, scene 1, where it is written above the door at the Garter Inn.
• It appears in the comments of the Apollo Guidance Computer assembly source code for the master ignition routine of the Lunar Module.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/listings/Luminary131/BURN_BABY_BURN--MASTER_IGNITION_ROUTINE.agc.html |title=Source code for the Apollo 13 lunar module's guidance computer |publisher=Ibiblio.org |access-date=2012-05-31}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/ScansForConversion/Luminary099/0731.jpg |title=Scan of source code page731 for the Apollo 11 (Luminary099) lunar module guidance computer |publisher=Ibiblio.org |access-date=2021-12-18}}{{cite web |title=chrislgarry/Apollo-11 |url=https://github.com/chrislgarry/Apollo-11/blob/master/Luminary099/BURN_BABY_BURN--MASTER_IGNITION_ROUTINE.agc |access-date=17 January 2017 |website=Github.com}}
• It is sung in full as the chorus of John Cale's song "Honi Soit (La Première Leçon de Français)" featured on the 1981 album Honi Soit.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5r4He6gfyU| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140120122805/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5r4He6gfyU| archive-date=2014-01-20 | url-status=dead|title=John Cale "Honi Soit (Le Première Leçon de Français)"|last=rightnowORneverever|date=26 January 2011|access-date=17 January 2017|publisher=YouTube}}
• It appears in the staff used by the Usher of the Black Rod of the Parliament of Canada. It also figures on the cap badge of the Royal Montreal Regiment.
• It is incorporated in the coat of arms of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome{{cite web |url=http://www.abbaziasanpaolo.net/farmacia.php |title=Abbazia di San Paolo fuori le mura |access-date=2014-02-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128033549/http://www.abbaziasanpaolo.net/farmacia.php |archive-date=2014-01-28 }}
• It is used as the motto of The Blue Book, a guide to prostitutes in Storyville, New Orleans published 1895-1915.{{Cite web|url=http://www.storyvilledistrictnola.com/bluebook_gallery.html|title=Blue Book Gallery | Storyville: New Orleans|website=Storyvilledistrictnola.com|access-date=6 November 2021}}
• It appears on the entry gates to pop star Michael Jackson's Neverland estate,{{Cite web |url=http://www.onmjfootsteps.com/archives/2014/04/05/29587330.html |title=Neverland partie 3: l'Entrée du ranch - on Michael Jackson's footsteps |access-date=2019-05-02 |archive-date=2019-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502154115/http://www.onmjfootsteps.com/archives/2014/04/05/29587330.html |url-status=dead }} and of the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, India.
• It is a motto of the Fort Henry Guard, of Kingston, Ontario, and appears on the Shako worn by the guard.{{Cite web |url=https://fhgclub.wildapricot.org/ |title=Fort Henry Guard Club of Canada - Home |access-date=2020-05-25 |archive-date=2020-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810235835/http://fhgclub.wildapricot.org/ |url-status=dead }}

• {{lang|sco|In my defens God me defend}}, the motto of the monarch of the United Kingdom for use in Scotland
• {{lang|la|Nemo me impune lacessit}}, the motto of the Order of the Thistle
• {{lang|de|Ich dien}}, the motto on the Prince of Wales's feathers
• {{lang|la|Quis separabit?}}, the motto of the Order of St Patrick

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Sir Gawain and the Green Knight}}

{{Members of the Order of the Garter}}

{{Royal heraldry in the United Kingdom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense}}

Category:Military history of the United Kingdom

Category:British Army

Category:Military mottos

Category:Mottoes of orders of chivalry

Category:Order of the Garter

Category:French words and phrases

Category:Edward III of England