(, ), which means , 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 The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, also referred to as the royal arms, are the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently Charles III. They are used by the Government of the United Kingdom and by other The Crown, Crown instit ...

used outside Scotland. The motto is said to have first been used by Richard I (1157–1199) as a battle cry (he spoke French and Occitan but knew only basic English) and the concept of the divine right of the monarch to govern.Dieu Et Mon Droit on British Coins
Accessed 23 December 2008 It was adopted as the royal motto of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

by King Henry V (1386–1422), with the phrase "and my right" referring to his claim by descent to the French crown.

Language

The motto is French for "God and my right", meaning that the king is "" ("King of England by the grace of God"). It is used to imply that the monarch of a nation has a God-given (divine) right to rule. It was not unusual for the royal coat of arms of the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

to have a French rather than English motto, given that

Norman French Norman or Norman French (, , Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a '' langue d'oïl'' spoken in the historical and cultural region of Normandy. The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to describe the administrative languages of '' Angl ...

was the primary language of the English Royal Court and ruling class following the rule of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

of Normandy and later the Plantagenets. Another

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

phrase also appears in the full achievement of the Royal Arms: the motto of the Order of the Garter, ("Shamed be the one who thinks ill of it"), appears on a representation of a garter (stockings), garter behind the shield. Modern French spelling has changed to , but the motto has not been updated.

Other translations

has been translated in several ways, including "God and my right", "God and my right hand", "God and my lawful right", and "God and my right shall me defend". The literal

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

of is "God and my right". However, ''Kearsley's Complete Peerage'', published in 1799, translates it to mean "God and my right hand" (in standard French that would be , not ). The Kearsley volume appeared during publication of the 1st edition (1796–1808) of the German , which emphasised the raising of the "right hand" during installations and coronations of German Kings. Diderot's ' lists the motto as , which Susan Emanuel translated as "God is my right".

Use as royal motto

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has generally been used as the motto of English monarchs, and later by British monarchs, since being adopted by Henry V. It was first used as a

battle cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religio ...

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. 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. Hence Richard wrote after his victory "It is not us who have done it but God and our right through us". 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 God. Alternatively, the Royal Arms may depict a monarch's personal motto. For example,

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

and Queen Anne's often displayed ;

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "Always the same", and James I's depicted , Latin for "Blessed are the peacemakers". Dieu et mon droit

Current usages

has been adopted along with the rest of the Royal Coat of Arms by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 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. Versions of the Coat of Arms, with the motto, are used by various newspapers, including Melbourne's ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' in Australia,

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

's '' The Press'' in New Zealand, the UK's '' Daily Mail'', and Canada's Victoria

Times Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific ...

. It is also used in Hardwick Hall in England on the fireplace of The High Great Chamber, also known as the Presence Chamber, though there it reads , God is my right. instead creating an additional 'ES' monogram. The extra E and S are a superimposition on the original E. This was added at a later date after the original writing was put up; to deface the Royal Arms would have been very dangerous, hence it was added later. It is also found on the official belt buckle of the Jamaica Constabulary Force; the front page of a British passport; the rank slide of a warrant officer in the British and other Commonwealth armed forces; the arms of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Supreme Court of Victoria and Supreme Court of New South Wales; and the crests of Hawthorn Rowing Club in Melbourne, Australia, Nottingham Law School, and

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

. The coined phrase was also used by Michael Jackson at his Neverland Ranch's front gates. The crest on the main gates carried the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, along with the phrase at the bottom. The motto was formerly included in a scroll on the Western Australia Police Force coat of arms, before being replaced with "Protect and Serve" when the organisation changed its name from Western Australia Police Force to Western Australia Police Service. It is the motto of Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet. It is the motto of the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, England. It is the motto of several, but not all, schools within the King Edward VI School Foundation, Birmingham, England including: * Fee Paying: King Edward’s School * Selective: King Edward VI Aston School, King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, King Edward VI Five Ways School, King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls Customs House Emblem

It is also found on the Old Customs House in Sydney, Australia. The Royal Coat of Arms is intricately carved in sandstone, located above the main entry pediment.

Variants

The Hearts of Oak, a revolutionary New York militia commanded by

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, wore badges of red tin hearts on their jackets with the words "God and Our Right". The phrase was the inspiration for a joke motto by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, ''Duit on Mon Dei'' ("Do it on Monday") and Harry Nilsson's 1975 album '' Duit on Mon Dei''. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as consort of the British monarch, used a similar motto: "God Is My Help".

Henry Hudson in 1612 used the wording (God is my right). Other people considered the phrase (God is my right) means he was direct sovereign and not vassal of any other king. Another example of is inscribed under the royal coat of arms on the over mantle of the High Great Chamber in Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire.

References