Mottos are short statements of beliefs or ideals, used by individuals, organizations, businesses, nations, and politicians to remind stakeholders of core beliefs. Personal mottos can be in any language, while national mottos are often attached to a country’s coat of arms or currency. Campaign slogans can also serve as mottos, expressing the public relations version of a candidate’s or party’s ideals or beliefs.
A motto is a short statement of beliefs or ideals and can be a phrase or a short sentence. An individual can have a personal motto and an organization or business can have one that doubles as an advertising slogan. Nations can have them, as can politicians, who often express them through memorable slogans. Their purpose is to remind stakeholders of the core beliefs that underlie an effort.
A personal motto may be part of a public family tradition, as with the inscriptions accompanying a family crest, or an individual, private choice. The statement may be in the person’s native language, but there are many that have traditionally been rendered in Latin. Here are some examples of personal mottos:
Cooperatori della Verità (“Cooperatori della Verità”): Pope Benedict XVI, elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Vi et veritate (“By force and truth”): Sloan family — Scotland
Semper Eadem (“Always the same”): Queen Elizabeth 1 of England
“Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God”: Epitaph of Benjamin Franklin, adopted by Thomas Jefferson
A motto can be included in an organization’s advertising slogan. Unlike those who focus on name recognition or product features, this type points to the principles behind the organization. Here are some examples:
All news that can be printed. (The New York Times)
Inspiring Minds (Dalhousie University, Canada)
Note that The New York Times motto refers to the organization’s discernment and discrimination in choosing what to present to its readers, as well as the breadth of coverage. This tagline is so well known, and associated with quality, that spoof publication The Onion has used the tagline “all news that can be reprinted” to promote “The Onion Presents Embedded in America, Volume 16” from their archives. Dalhousie University also focuses on the relationship with their clients, who are their students.
National mottos are often attached to a country’s coat of arms or its currency. Some are more descriptive than idealistic:
From sea to sea (“Give the sea from the sea”): Canada
“In God We Trust”: United States, introduced on currency in 1864
E Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many, One”): United States, introduced on currency in 1795
In addition to keeping a candidate’s name in the public eye and in the public’s ears, the campaign slogan can be a motto, expressing the public relations version of the candidate’s or party’s ideals or beliefs, as these examples show:
“Prosperity and Progress”: Al Gore, 2000
“Compassionate conservatism”: George W. Bush, 2000
“Government by, by, and for the people … not financial interests”: Ralph Nader, 2000
Nader’s motto quotes from President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, linking Nader to everything Lincoln expressed in that famous address.
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