Dieu et mon droit

The motto appears on a scroll beneath the shield of the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

Dieu et mon droit is the motto of the British Monarch in England.^[1] It appears on a scroll beneath the shield of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom.^[2] The motto refers to the divine right of the Monarch to govern^[3] and is said to have first been adopted as the royal motto of England by King Henry V in the 15th century.^[3]

Language

The motto is French for literally "God and my right" (a fuller version of the motto is also quoted as "God and my right shall me defend").^[4] The word droit was formerly spelt droict (it is related to English direct); the c was later dropped in accordance with modern French orthography.^{[citation needed]} A better translation referring to the divine right of kings would be "My divine right",^[5] this being an example of hendiadys.

For the Royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of England to have a French rather than English motto was not unusual, 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, Honi soit qui mal y pense ("Spurned be the one who evil thinks"), appears on a representation of a garter behind the shield. Modern French spelling has changed honi to honni, but the motto has not been updated.

Other translations

Dieu et mon droit has been translated in several ways, including "God and my right," "God and my right hand,"^[6][7] "God and my lawful right,"^[8] and "God and my right shall me defend." ^[9]

The literal translation of Dieu et mon droit 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 Dieu et la [main] droite, not mon droit.) The Kearsley volume appeared during publication of the 1st edition (1796–1808) of the German Brockhaus Encyclopedia, which emphasized the raising of the "right hand" during installations and coronations of German Kings.

Use as royal motto

Dieu et mon droit has generally been used as the motto of English—and later British (outside of Scotland)—monarchs since being adopted by Edward III.^[10] 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.^[10][11] The belief in medieval Europe was not that victory automatically went to the side with the better army but that, as with personal trial by combat, to the side that God viewed with favour.^[12] Hence Richard wrote after his victory "It is not us who have done it but God and our right through us".^[10] 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 recognizes no superior but God'.".^[13]

Alternatively, the Royal Arms may depict a monarch's personal motto. For example, Elizabeth I & Queen Anne's often displayed Semper Eadem; Latin for "Always the same",^[14] and James I's depicted Beati Pacifici, Latin for "Blessed are the peacemakers". ^[15]

Current usages

Dieu et mon droit has been adopted along with the rest of the royal coat of arms by The Times as part of its masthead. Back in 1785 when it incorporated the royal coat of arms half the newspapers in London were doing so. Since 1982 the paper abandoned the use of the current royal coat of arms and returned to using the Hanovarian coat of arms of 1785.^[16]

The Age newspaper published in Melbourne has a stylised royal coat of arms in its masthead that includes the motto. Some do not think it is appropriate emblem for a republic leaning newspaper.^[17]

Variants

The phrase was the inspiration for a joke motto by The Beatles, Duit on Mon Dei ("Do it on Monday"), which was later adopted as the title of an album by Harry Nilsson.

See also

• In My Defens God Me Defend, Motto of the British monarch for use in Scotland.
• Ich dien, the motto of the Prince of Wales
• List of national mottos

References

1. ^ British Royal Coat of Arms and Motto Accessed 23 December 2008
2. ^ "Coats of arms". royal.gov.uk. http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Symbols/Coatsofarms.aspx. Retrieved 2009-04-25. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Dieu Et Mon Droit on British Coins Accessed 23 December 2008
4. ^ The Fourth part of the Institutes of Laws of England: Concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts, by Edward Coke Accessed 31 July 2008
5. ^ Date in history 16/12/1653 translating motto as "God and my [divine] right" http://footguards.tripod.com/08HISTORY/08_Date_in_history/08_Date_12.htm
6. ^ Kearsley's Complete Peerage, of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 1799. p. xxiii. http://books.google.com/books?id=AX8DAAAAQAAJ&dq=Kearsley%27s+Complete+Peerage&printsec=frontcover&ct=result#PPR23,M1. Retrieved 2009-04-25. 
7. ^ Mary Ellen Snodgrass (2003). Coins and Currency: An Historical Encyclopedia. p. 227. 
8. ^ Foreign Service Journal (Pg 24) by American Foreign Service Association (1974)
9. ^ Edward Coke. The Fourth part of the Institutes of Laws of England: Concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XlE0AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PT218&lpg=RA2-PT218&dq=%22in+my+defence+god+me+defend%22. Retrieved 2009-04-25. "The ancient Motto of the King of England is, God and my right (intelligitur) shall me defend" 
10. ^ ^{a b c} Pine, Leslie Gilbert (1983). A Dictionary of mottoes. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 9780710093394. 
11. ^ Norris, Herbert (1999). Medieval Costume and Fashion (illustrated, reprint ed.). Courier Dover Publications. p. 312. ISBN 0486404862. 
12. ^ "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." (Lehtonen, Tuomas M. S.; Jensen, Kurt Villads (2005). Medieval history writing and crusading ideology. Studia Fennica: Historica. 9 (illustrated ed.). Finnish Literature Society. ISBN 9517466625. )
13. ^ Hallam, 1996. Medieval Monarchs. Crescent Books. p. 44. ISBN 0517140829. 
14. ^ Watkins, John (2002). Representing Elizabeth in Stuart England: literature, history, sovereignty (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 206. ISBN 0521815738. 
15. ^ Biden, William Downing (1852). The history and antiquities of the ancient and royal town of Kingston-upon-Thames. William Lindsey. p. 6. 
16. ^ Staff (25 January 2007). "FAQ: infrequently asked questions: The Times and Sunday Times are newspapers with long and interesting histories". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/feedback/article1185820.ece. 
17. ^ "Up in arms over royal emblem". The Age. 14 June 2011. http://www.theage.com.au/national/letters/up-in-arms-over-royal-emblem-20110613-1g0db.html.