All Topics  
Motto

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Motto
 
 
  Topics Motto Topic Home

A motto (from the Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 for pledge, sentence; plural mottos or mottoes) is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottos of government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
s.

Heraldry
In heraldry
Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning Coat of arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms....
, a "motto" is often depicted on a scroll
Scroll

A Scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper, which has been drawn or written upon.Scroll may also refer to:*Scroll , the decoratively curved end of the pegbox of string instruments such as violins...
 in an achievement of arms, typically below the shield or else above the crest as in Scots heraldry.

In English and Scottish heraldry mottoes are not granted with armorial bearings, and may be adopted and changed at will.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Motto'
Start a new discussion about 'Motto'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A motto (from the Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 for pledge, sentence; plural mottos or mottoes) is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottos of government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
s.

Heraldry


In heraldry
Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning Coat of arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms....
, a "motto" is often depicted on a scroll
Scroll

A Scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper, which has been drawn or written upon.Scroll may also refer to:*Scroll , the decoratively curved end of the pegbox of string instruments such as violins...
 in an achievement of arms, typically below the shield or else above the crest as in Scots heraldry.

In English and Scottish heraldry mottoes are not granted with armorial bearings, and may be adopted and changed at will. Although very unusual and perhaps outside regular heraldic practice, there are some examples of the particular appearance of the motto scroll and letters thereon being blazoned.

A canting motto is one that contains word play
Word play

Word play is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work. Puns, phonetic mix-ups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, and telling character names are common examples of word play....
. For example, the motto of the Earl of Onslow
Earl of Onslow

Earl of Onslow, of Onslow in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1801 for George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow....
 is Festina lente, punningly interpreting on-slow (literally "make haste slowly").

The motto of the County
Counties of England

The counties of England are territorial divisions of England for the purposes of administrative, political and geographical demarcation. Many current counties have foundations in older divisions such as the Anglo-Saxon England kingdoms....
 of Somerset
Somerset

Somerset is a Counties of England in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west....
 is in Anglo-Saxon
Old English language

Old English is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century....
; that of South Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire

South Cambridgeshire is a mostly rural Non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District....
 in the English Fens
The Fens

The Fens, also known as the Fenland, is a geographic area in eastern England, in the United Kingdom.The Fenland primarily lies around the coast of the Wash; it reaches into two Government regions , four ceremonial counties , 11 District Councils and five postcode areas ....
 is in Dutch
Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
.

Ships and submarines in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 each have a badge and motto, as do units of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts....
.

See also

  • Epigram
    Epigram

    An Epigram is a brief, clever, and usually memorable statement. Derived from the "to write on - inscribe", the literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
  • Inscription
  • List of Latin phrases
    List of Latin phrases

    This page lists direct English language translations of common Latin phrases, such as veni, vidi, vici and et cetera. Some of the phrases are themselves translations of List of Greek phrases, as Greek language rhetoric and literature were highly regarded in ancient Rome when Latin rhetoric and literature were still maturing....
  • Slogan
    Slogan

    A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commerce, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose....
  • Tagline
    Tagline

    A tagline is a variant of a Advertising slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product....
  • Tripartite motto
  • List of mottos
    List of mottos

    This is a list of mottos of organisations, institutions, municipalities and authorities....