What is Motto?

Information about Motto

A motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization. Many countries, cities, universities, and other institutions have mottos, as do families with coats of arms.

A motto may be in any language. Latin and to a lesser degree French are disproportionately frequent, because each was the principal international language for a considerable period. The local language is usual in the mottos of governments.

Fraternities and sororities typically have their (usually secret) mottos in the Greek language. That of the County of Somerset is in Anglo-Saxon.

A canting motto is one that contains word play. For example, the motto of the Earl of Onslow is Festina lente, punningly interpreting on-slow (literally "make haste slowly").

In heraldry, a motto is often depicted in an achievement of arms, typically on a scroll below the shield, or else above the crest as in Scots heraldry.

Ships and submarines in the Royal Navy each have a crest and motto, as do units of the Royal Air Force.

In English heraldry mottoes are not granted with armorial bearings and are not hereditable, conversely in Scottish heraldry they are.

See also

Coat of arms elements
Escutcheon is often the term used in heraldry for the shield displayed in a coat of arms. An inescutcheon is a smaller escutcheon borne within a larger escutcheon.
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field. The field is usually composed of one or more tinctures (colours or metals) or furs.

In extremely rare cases, the field (or a subdivision thereof[1]) is not a tincture, but may be a landscape.
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supporters are figures usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. These figures may be real or imaginary animals, human figures, and in rare cases plants or inanimate objects.
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The word crest is often mistakenly applied to a coat of arms. For further information see Heraldry. For Japanese usage, see mon (badge).


Coat of arms elements
A crest
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Coat of arms elements
In heraldry, the torse is a twisted roll of fabric wound around the top of the helm and crest to hold the mantle in place.

Like the mantle
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Coat of arms elements
In heraldry, mantling or lambrequin is drapery tied to the helmet above the shield. It forms a backdrop for the shield.
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Coat of arms elements


In heraldry, a compartment is a design placed under the shield, usually rocks, a grassy mount, or some sort of other landscape upon which the supporters are depicted as standing.
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In heraldry and vexillology, a charge is an image occupying the field on an escutcheon (or shield). Charge can also be a verb; for example, if an escutcheon bears three lions, then it is said to be charged with three lions.
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coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short), in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people) and used by them in a wide variety of ways.
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Italian 
Official status
Official language of:  European Union
 European Union
 Switzerland
 San Marino
Vatican City
Sovereign Military Order of Malta

The template is . Please use instead.

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In grammar, a phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence.

For example the house at the end of the street (example 1) is a phrase. It acts like a noun.
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A word is a unit of language that carries meaning and consists of one or more morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together, and has a phonetical value. Typically a word will consist of a root or stem and zero or more affixes.
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Latin 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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French (français, pronounced [fʁɑ̃ˈsɛ]) is a Romance language originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and today by about 300 million people around the world as either
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International language may refer to:
  • International auxiliary language
  • Universal language

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government is a body that has the power to make and the authority to enforce rules and laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or other organization or group.[1]
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fraternity" and "sorority" (from the Latin words frater and soror, meaning "brother" and "sister" respectively) may be used to describe many social and charitable organizations, for
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Greek 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
 Cyprus
 European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
 European Union
 Italy
 Turkey
Regulated by:
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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 kingdoms.
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Somerset

Geography
Status Ceremonial & (smaller) Non-metropolitan county
Origin Historic
Region South West England
Area
- Total
- Admin. council
- Admin.
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Old English/Anglo-Saxon
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: ang
ISO 639-3: ang Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Englisc
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Canting arms is a technique used in European heraldry whereby the name of the individual or community represented in a coat of arms is "translated" into a visual pun.
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Word play is a literary and narrative technique in which the nature of the words used themselves become part of the subject of the work. Puns, phonetic mixups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, and telling
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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, 4th Baron Onslow. The Onslow family descends from Arthur Onslow, who represented Bramber, Sussex and Guildford in the House of Commons.
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Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms.[1] To most, though, heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing, and recording coats of arms and badges.
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Naval Service

Components
Royal Navy
  • Surface Fleet
  • Fleet Air Arm
  • Submarine Service
  • Royal Navy Regulating Branch
  • Royal Naval Reserve
  • Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service
Royal Marines
  • (includes Royal Marines Reserve)

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The word crest is often mistakenly applied to a coat of arms. For further information see Heraldry. For Japanese usage, see mon (badge).


Coat of arms elements
A crest
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Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. The RAF was formed on 1 April 1918 and has since taken a significant role in British military history since then, playing a large part in World War II and in conflicts such as the recent war in Iraq.
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An epigram is a short poem with a clever twist at the end or a concise and witty statement. They are among the best examples of the power of poetry to compress insight and wit.
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Epigraphy (Greek, ἐπιγραφή — "written upon") is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs engraved into stone or other durable materials, or cast in metal, the science of classifying them as to cultural context and
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