Dieu et mon droit
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Template:Lang (Template:IPA, Template:Langx), which means Template:Gloss,<ref name= royal>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="morana">Template:Cite book</ref> is the motto of the monarch of the United Kingdom.<ref name="morana"/> It appears on a scroll beneath the shield of the version of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom used outside Scotland.<ref name= royal/> The motto is said to have first been used by Richard I (1157–1199) as a battle cry. It was adopted as the royal motto of England by King Henry V (1386–1422)<ref name="morana"/> with the phrase "and my right" referring to the divine right of kings.
Language
The motto is French for "God and my right",<ref name="morana"/> meaning that the king is "Template:Lang"<ref>Ted Ellsworth, Yank: Memoir of a World War II Soldier (1941–1945), Da Capo Press, 2009, p. 29.</ref><ref>The Journal of the British Archaeological Association, vol. 17, British Archaeological Association, 1861 p. 33.</ref><ref>Henry Shaw, Dress and decoration of the Middle Ages, First Glance Books, 1998, p. 92.</ref><ref>Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages, vol. 1, William Pickering, 1843, section 2.</ref> ("King of England by the grace of God").<ref name="morana"/> It is used to imply that the monarch of a nation has a God-given (divine) right to rule.<ref name="morana"/> Henry V, in adopting it, may have also have intended a reference to his claim to the French crown.<ref name="Barker2010">Template:Cite book</ref>
It was not unusual for the royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of England to have a French rather than English motto, given that Norman French was the primary language of the English Royal Court and ruling class following the rule of William the Conqueror of Normandy and later the Plantagenets. Another Old French phrase also appears in the full achievement of the Royal Arms: the motto of the Order of the Garter, Template:Lang ("Shamed be the one who thinks ill of it"), appears on a representation of a garter behind the shield. Modern French spelling has changed Template:Lang to Template:Lang, but the motto has not been updated.
Other translations
Template:Lang has been translated in several ways, including "God and my right", "God and my right hand",<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> "God and my lawful right",<ref>Foreign Service Journal (Pg 24) by American Foreign Service Association (1974)</ref> and "God and my right shall me defend".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The literal translation of Template:Lang is "God and my right".<ref name="morana"/> However, Kearsley's Complete Peerage, published in 1799, translates it to mean "God and my right hand" (in standard French that would be Template:Lang, not Template:Lang). The Kearsley volume appeared during publication of the 1st edition (1796–1808) of the German Template:Lang, which emphasised the raising of the "right hand" during installations and coronations of German Kings.
Use as royal motto
Template:Lang has generally been used as the motto of English monarchs, and later by British monarchs, since being adopted by Henry V.<ref name="morana"/><ref name="Barker2010"/><ref name=Pine-53>Template:Cite book</ref> It was first used as a battle cry by King Richard I in 1198 at the Battle of Gisors, when he defeated the forces of Philip II of France and after he made it his motto.<ref name=Pine-53/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Medieval Europeans did not believe that victory necessarily went to the side with the better army, but (as they also viewed personal trial by combat) to the side that God viewed with favour.<ref>"If a battle was followed by victory, it was understood that the army was to be seen as in God's favour and the victory viewed as a gesture of blessing." (Template:Cite book)</ref> Hence Richard wrote after his victory "It is not us who have done it but God and our right through us".<ref name=Pine-53/> So after his victories on the crusades "Richard was speaking what he believed to be the truth when he told the Holy Roman Emperor: 'I am born of a rank which recognises no superior but GodTemplate:'".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Alternatively, the Royal Arms may depict a monarch's personal motto. For example, Elizabeth I and Queen Anne's often displayed Template:Lang; Latin for "Always the same",<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and James I's depicted Template:Lang, Latin for "Blessed are the peacemakers".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Current usages
Template:Lang has been adopted along with the rest of the Royal Coat of Arms by The Times as part of its masthead. When it incorporated the Coat of Arms in 1875, half the newspapers in London were also doing so. Since 1982 the paper abandoned the use of the current Royal Coat of Arms and returned to using the Hanoverian coat of arms of 1785.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Variants
The Hearts of Oak, a revolutionary New York militia commanded by Alexander Hamilton, wore badges of red tin hearts on their jackets with the words "God and Our Right".<ref>Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. Penguin Press, (2004) (Template:ISBN).</ref>
Diderot's Template:Lang lists the motto as Template:Lang, which Susan Emanuel translated as "God is my right".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The motto in this form was also cited by Henry Hudson in 1612<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Joseph de La Porte in 1772.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
See also
- Template:Lang, the motto of the British monarch for use in Scotland
- Template:Lang, the motto of Scotland
- Template:Lang, the motto of the Prince of Wales
- Template:Lang
- List of national mottos
- Template:Lang
- Template:Lang