Ich Dien

Ich Dien ('I serve'), the motto of Edward the Black Prince, whose badge was a single ostrich feather, afterwards three ostrich feathers. The story that he adopted both motto and badge from John, the blind king of Bohemia, after the battle of Crécy, is not borne out by historical investigation. Since Edward's time the motto 'Ich Dien' and the badge of three ostrich feathers have been employed as the cognisance of the Princes of Wales. See Diet. Nat. Biog., vol. xvii. p. 92.