Motto

Motto, in Heraldry, a word or short sentence which forms an accompaniment to a coat-of-arms, crest, or household badge; it was called in Scotland the 'ditton.' In France and Scotland it was frequently placed above the crest, in England almost invariably below the escutcheon. A motto is sometimes a religious or moral sentiment, as 'Gardez la foi,' 'Humanitate,' 'Et deus et pretium recti' (Grafton); it is not unfrequently a heroic exclamation or war-cry, 'Courage sans peur,' 'Forward.' Sometimes it alludes to a peculiar tenure, as 'Free for a blast' (Clerk of Penicuik); while in a great many cases it bears reference to the crest, badge, or some bearing of the escutcheon. Thus, Stuart, Earl of Moray, has for crest a pelican wounding herself, and for motto, 'Salus per Christum Redemptorem.' Not a few mottos are 'canting' or punning allusions to the family name—as 'Seuto amoris Divini,' for Scudamore; 'Ver non semper viret,' for Vernon; 'Fare, fac,' for Fairfax; 'Time Deum, cole regem,' for Coleridge; and 'Teneo quia teneor,' for Holden. Two mottos are sometimes used by the same family—one above the crest, the other below the shield. The motto, 'Dicu et mon Droit,' which accompanies the royal arms of Great Britain, is supposed to have been a war-cry, and was used in England at least as early as the time of Henry VI. Its origin has been assigned to a saying of Richard I., 'Not we, but God and our right have vanquished France.' See Seton's Law and Practice of Heraldry (1863).