Dieu et mon droit

The motto appears on a scroll beneath the shield on the version of the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom used outside of Scotland.

Dieu et mon droit (French pronunciation: [djø e mɔ̃ dʁwa], Old French: Deu et mon droit), which means 'God and my right',[1][2] is the motto of the monarch of the United Kingdom.[2] It appears on a scroll beneath the shield of the version of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom used outside Scotland.[1] The motto is said to have first been used by Richard I (1157–1199) as a battle cry and presumed to be a reference to his French ancestry (he spoke French and Occitan but knew only basic English) and the concept of the divine right of the monarch to govern.[3] It was adopted as the royal motto of England by King Henry V (1386–1422),[2][3][4] with the phrase "and my right" referring to his claim by descent to the French crown.[4]

  1. ^ a b "Coats of arms". The Official Website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Morana, Martin (September 2011). Bejn kliem u storja: glossarju enċiklopediku dwar tradizzjonijiet – toponimi – termini storiċi Maltin (in Maltese). Malta: Best Print. p. 59. ISBN 978-99957-0-137-6. OCLC 908059040. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b Dieu Et Mon Droit on British Coins Accessed 23 December 2008
  4. ^ a b Juliet Barker (2 September 2010). Agincourt: The King, the Campaign, the Battle. Little, Brown Book Group. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7481-2219-6.