motto#Heraldry

Latin has been very common for mottos in the Western World, but for nation states, their official national language is generally chosen. Examples of using other historical languages in motto language include:

• County of Somerset in England: {{Lang|ang|Sumorsǣte ealle}} (All the men of Somerset), Old English.{{Cite web|url=http://www1.Somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Danishinvs.htm|title=The Danish Invasions|website=Somerset.gov.uk|publisher=Somerset County Council archives|access-date=26 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224100314/http://www1.Somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Danishinvs.htm|archive-date=24 December 2013}}{{Cite web|url=https://Heraldry-Wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Somerset|title=Somerset - Coat of arms (crest) of Somerset|website=Heraldry-Wiki.com|publisher=Heraldry of the World|date=19 March 2019|access-date=1 November 2022}}
• South Cambridgeshire in the English Fens: {{Lang|nl|Niet Zonder Arbyt}} (Nothing without work), Dutch, originally the motto of Dutchman Cornelius Vermuyden, who drained The Fens in the 17th century.{{Cite web|url=http://www.CivicHeraldry.co.uk/east_anglia_essex.html|title=Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – East Anglia and Essex area|website=CivicHeraldry.co.uk|access-date=8 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828061517/http://www.CivicHeraldry.co.uk/east_anglia_essex.html|archive-date=28 August 2009}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/performance-profiling/south-cambridgeshire|title=South Cambridgeshire|website=rsnonline.org.uk|publisher=Rural Services Network|access-date=21 December 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224114644/http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/performance-profiling/south-cambridgeshire|archive-date=24 December 2013}}
• South Africa: ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke (Unity in diversity), ǀXam.
• Shire of Shetland: Með lögum skal land byggja (By law shall the land be built up), Old Norse.{{Cite web|url=https://Heraldry-Wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Shetland_Islands|title=Shetland Islands - Coat of arms (crest) of Shetland Islands|website=Heraldry-Wiki.com|publisher=Heraldry of the World|date=13 October 2020|access-date=1 November 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526101947/https://Heraldry-Wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Shetland_Islands|archive-date=26 May 2021}}

A canting motto is one that contains word play.{{Cite book|last=|title=The Manual of Heraldry : being a concise description of the several terms used, and containing a dictionary of every designation in the science. Illustrated by four hundred engravings on wood.|url=https://archive.org/details/manualofheraldry00adam|edition=5th|location=London, England|publisher=Arthur Hall, Virtue & Co.|year=1800|page=[https://archive.org/details/manualofheraldry00adam/page/132 132]|oclc=1049649069|ol=OL24349702M|access-date=1 November 2022}} For example, the motto of the Earl of Onslow is Festina lente (literally 'make haste slowly'), punningly interpreting 'on slow'.{{Cite book|author=Mark Antony Lower|date=October 1860|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00cBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA249|title=Patronymica Britannica: A Dictionary of the Family Names of the United Kingdom|chapter=Onslow|location=London, England|publisher=John Russell Smith|isbn=9780788404566}} Similarly, the motto of the Burgh of Tayport, Te oportet alte ferri (It is incumbent on you to carry yourself high), is a cant on 'Tayport at auld Tay Ferry', also alluding to the local lighthouse.{{Cite web|url=https://Heraldry-Wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Tayport|title=Tayport - Coat of arms (crest) of Tayport|website=Heraldry-Wiki.com|publisher=Heraldry of the World|date=13 October 2020|access-date=1 November 2022}} The motto of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity, is a backronym of the letters F.B.I.

File:Map of State Mottos.svg

• United in diversity, the motto of the European Union (EU)
• In God We Trust, the motto of the United States (US)
• Je Maintiendrai Châlons (French for "I will maintain Châlons"), often abbreviated as Je maintiendrai (French for "I will maintain"), the motto of the Netherlands
• Dieu et mon droit (French for "God and my right"), is the motto of the monarch of the United Kingdom. It appears on a scroll beneath the shield of the version of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom.
• Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno (Latin for "One for all, all for one"), unofficial motto of Switzerland
• Post tenebras lux (Latin for "Light After Darkness"), motto of University of Geneva
• United we stand, divided we fall{{Clarify|date=November 2022}}

{{Heraldic achievement}}

In heraldry, a motto is often found below the shield in a banderole in the compartment. This placement stems from the Middle Ages, in which the vast majority of nobles possessed a coat of arms complete with a motto. In the case of Scottish heraldry, it is mandated to appear above the crest{{Cite book|last=von Volborth|first=Carl Alexander|date=March 1980|title=Heraldry of the World|url=https://archive.org/details/heraldryworld00volb|url-access=limited|publisher=Blandford Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/heraldryworld00volb/page/n191 192]|isbn=9780806999609|ol=OL7944413M}} and is called slogan (see: Slogan (heraldry)). The word 'slogan' is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm (sluagh "army, host" + gairm "cry").{{cite encyclopedia |title=slogan |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |date=2003 |page=1174}} There are several notable slogans which are thought to originate from a battle or war cries. In heraldic literature, the terms 'rallying cry' respectively 'battle banner' are also common.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} Spanish coats of arms may display a motto in the bordure of the shield.{{Cite book|last=von Volborth|first=Carl Alexander|date=March 1980|title=Heraldry of the World|url=https://archive.org/details/heraldryworld00volb|url-access=limited|publisher=Blandford Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/heraldryworld00volb/page/n210 211]|isbn=9780806999609|ol=OL7944413M}}

In English heraldry, mottos are not granted with armorial bearings, and may be adopted and changed at will. In Scottish heraldry, mottos can only be changed by re-matriculation, with the Lord Lyon King of Arms.{{Cite book|last=Innes-Smith|first=Robert|date=1990|url=https://archive.org/details/outlineofheraldr00inne|title=An Outline of Heraldry in England and Scotland|url-access=registration|location=Derby, England|publisher=Pilgrim Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/outlineofheraldr00inne/page/n15 14, col 1]|isbn=0-900594-82-9|oclc=1036776100|quote=Mottos are not necessarily hereditary, and can be adopted and changed at will.|access-date=1 November 2022}} Although unusual in England, and perhaps outside English heraldic practice, there are some examples, such as in Belgium, of the particular appearance of the motto scroll and letters thereon being blazoned;{{Cite web |title=USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) |url=https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=4988&CategoryId=2842&grp=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221085833/https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=4988&CategoryId=2842&grp=5 |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 February 2024|access-date=21 Feb 2024 |website=The Institute of Heraldry}} a prominent example is the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States (which is a coat of arms and follows heraldic conventions), the blazon for which specifies that the motto scroll is held in the beak of the bald eagle serving as the escutcheon's supporter.

File:Coat of Arms of The City of London.svg|Motto "Domine dirige nos" (Latin for 'Lord, guide us') below the Coat of arms of the City of London

File:Porin vaakuna.svg|Motto Deus protector noster (Latin for 'God is our protector') below the arms of Pori{{Cite web|title=Juhana Herttuan patsas - Pori, Finland – Statues of historic figures|url=https://Waymarking.com/waymarks/WMBMC0_Juhana_Herttuan_patsas_Pori_Finland|website=Waymarking.com|publisher=Groundspeak, Inc.|date=2022|access-date=1 November 2022}}

File:Coa Scotland Brim-DeForest of Balvaird Castle, Baron of Balvaird big.svg|Above the crest is the slogan (see: Slogan (heraldry), most traditional in Scottish heraldry) or the war cry, Arms of Brady Brim-DeForest, Baron of Balvaird

Ships and submarines in the Royal Navy (RN) each have a badge and motto, as do units of the Royal Air Force (RAF).{{Cite book|last=Cassells|first=Vic|year=2000|title=The capital ships: Their battles and their badges|publisher=Kangaroo Press|page=190}}{{ISBN missing|date=November 2022}}

In literature, a motto is a sentence, phrase, poem, or word; prefixed to an essay, chapter, novel, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter. It is a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle for the written material that follows.

For example, Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes uses mottos at the start of each section.{{Cite book|last=Stevenson|first=Robert Louis|author-link=Robert Louis Stevenson|date=1907|title=Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/535/535-h/535-h.htm|location=London, England|publisher=Chatto & Windus}}

{{Commons category|Mottos}}

{{Wiktionary|motto}}

• Epigram
• Epitaph
• Hendiatris
• List of Latin phrases
• List of mottos
• List of national mottos
• Mission statement
• Slogan
• Tagline

{{Reflist}}

{{Heraldry}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Ethical principles

Category:Motivation

Category:Intention

Category:External devices in achievements

category:Phaleristics