''Dzala ertobashia'' ( ka, ძალა ერთობაშია, , "Strength is in Unity") is the official motto of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It originally comes from a famous

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

by Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani of the same name. According to this fable, once upon a time there lived a king with thirty sons. One day, when he was dying, he called his sons and asked them to bring arrows. Then king asked them to break the arrows one by one, and the sons did. The king then asked them to break the arrows all at once, and they could not. The king said: "Teach O my sons from this fact, that there is ''‘strength in unity.’'' If you are together, an enemy cannot do you wrong, but if you are divided, victory will be on their side." The problem of national unity has been a perennial problem in the history of the Georgian state and the Georgian people, exemplified by the ongoing Russian occupations of

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

and

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

Usage elsewhere

Versions of this phrase are the

national motto This article lists state and national mottos for the world's nations. The mottos for some states lacking general international recognition, extinct states, non-sovereign nations, regions, and territories are listed, but their names are not bold ...

s of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, and

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, and also formerly in the historical Traansvaal,

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

(as '' Ex Unitate Vires''), and Malaya. There is a popular legend in Bulgaria about Kubrat, ruler of Great Bulgaria, who also gave his sons the same advice by the same example.

Usage elsewhere

See also