() is the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

of both the royal coat of arms of the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a Anglo-Sc ...

and

royal 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 in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Contemporary versions of the royal arms show an abbreviated motto, in the form of ''in defens'' or, where

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

is used as an alternative, ''in defence''. The motto appears above the

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings * The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York * "The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York * Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Sw ...

of the arms, in the tradition of

Scottish heraldry Heraldry in Scotland, while broadly similar to that practised in England and elsewhere in western Europe, has its own distinctive features. Its heraldic executive is separate from that of the rest of the United Kingdom. Executive The Scottish h ...

Origins

Adopted during the reign of the

Stewart dynasty The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been hel ...

, and certainly in use by the reign of

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

(1488–1513), was originally the only motto associated with Scotland's royal arms, with versions appearing in both truncated and abbreviated forms; , for example, having been adopted for the royal arms of James IV. (An

embroidered Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

wall hanging depicting these arms is displayed in the Great Hall at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

). Later versions of the arms which feature the abbreviated form include the armorial by Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, which appears in his ''Register of Scottish Arms'' (1542). The motto is also associated with an old Scots prayer, of which there are several versions where ''In my defens God me defend'' appears as the opening line, including: And: Also, in the form of a

couplet In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

: Another variation of the phrase, appearing as , is to be found engraved upon a number of traditional Ballock knives, with one particular example (dated 1624) now forming part of the Arms and Armour collection of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

''Nemo me impune lacessit''

During the reign of Charles II (1660–1685), the royal arms used in Scotland were augmented with the inclusion of the

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 ...

motto of the

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

, the highest

chivalric order An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is a society, fellowship and college of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades ( 1099–1291) and pai ...

of the Kingdom of Scotland. The motto of the Order of the Thistle, '' Nemo me impune lacessit'', appears on a blue

scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyru ...

overlying the compartment. (Previously, only the

collar Collar may refer to: Human neckwear *Clerical collar (informally ''dog collar''), a distinctive collar used by the clergy of some Christian religious denominations *Collar (clothing), the part of a garment that fastens around or frames the neck ...

of the Order of the Thistle had appeared on the arms.) The addition by King Charles of ensured that the

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

of his royal arms used in Scotland complemented that of his royal arms used elsewhere, in that two mottoes were displayed. The blazon used elsewhere had included the French motto of the arms, ''

Dieu et mon droit (, ), 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 used outside Scotland. The motto is said to have first been used by Ri ...

'', together with the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -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 ...

motto of the Order of the Garter, the highest chivalric order of the Kingdom of England. The motto of the Order of the Garter, , appears on a representation of the Garter (stockings), garter surrounding the Shield (heraldry), shield. Thenceforth, the versions of the Royal arms used in Scotland and elsewhere were to include both the motto of the arms of the respective kingdom ''and'' the motto of the associated order of chivalry.

Confusion

The rules governing

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

and armorial achievements in England have possibly resulted in a degree of confusion as to the status of the mottoes associated with both the royal coat of arms of Scotland and those of the United Kingdom used in Scotland. In English heraldry the motto is placed beneath the shield, whereas in Scottish heraldry the motto is placed above the crest. Appearing beneath the shield may have led to the conclusion that ''Nemo me impune lacessit'' is the motto of the royal arms, whereas historical evidence coupled with the conventions of heraldry in Scotland would suggest that ''In my defens God me defend'' is the motto of the royal arms and therefore the motto of Scotland itself.

Usage

The motto ''In defens'' not only appears on the royal arms, but also, in conjunction with the crest of the Royal arms, upon the logo of both the

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under t ...

and the

General Register Office for Scotland The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) () was a non-ministerial directorate of the Scottish Government that administered the registration of births, deaths, marriages, divorces and adoptions in Scotland from 1854 to 2011. It was also re ...

References

External links

Arms on publication dated 1606 showing full motto

Wood carving of arms of Mary, Queen of Scots, showing full motto
{{Coats of arms of Europe Monarchy of the United Kingdom National mottos National symbols of Scotland Scottish monarchy