For other uses see Motto (disambiguation). This article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (June 2009) Shield Field Supporter Supporter Motto (Scotland) Crest Torse Mantling Helm Coronet Compartment Order Ordinaries Common charges Motto Achievement elements

A motto (Italian for pledge sentence; plural: mottos or mottoes)12 is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottos of governments. In informal ways it can be a rule or slogan someone follows or lives their life by. Contents 1 Heraldry 2 Literature 3 See also 4 Notes Heraldry

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

In English mottoes are not granted with armorial bearings and may be adopted and changed at will. In Scottish heraldry mottos can only be changed by remarticulation with the Lord Lyon King of Arms.3 Although very unusual and perhaps outside standard heraldic practice there are some examples of the particular appearance of the motto scroll and letters thereon being blazoned.4

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").

The motto of the County of Somerset is in Anglo-Saxon; that of South Cambridgeshire in the English Fens is in Dutch.

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

In literature a motto is a sentence phrase poem or word prefixed to an essay chapter novel or the like suggestive of its subject matter. It is a short suggestive expression of a guiding principle for the written material that follows.

For example Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey in the Cvennes uses mottos at the start of each section. See also Epigram Hendiatris Inscription List of Latin phrases List of mottos Slogan Tagline United in diversity United we stand divided we fall Notes Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mottos "Motto". Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motto. Retrieved 31 January 2011.  "Motto". Oxford University Press. http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/mengb0537100. Retrieved 31 January 2011.  Innes-Smith Robert (1990). An Outline of Heraldry in England and Scotland. Pilgrim Press. pp. 14. ISBN 0-900594-82-9. "Mottoes are not necessarily hereditary and can be adopted and changed at will."  "USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81)". Archived from the original on 2007-10-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20071010031547/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Navy/USSWinstonChurchill.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-23.