This page lists state and national mottos for the world's independent states. The mottos for some states lacking general international recognition and some extinct states are listed, but their names are not bolded.
A state motto is used to describe the intent or motivation of the state in a short phrase. For example, it can be included on a country's coat of arms, coins or banknotes. Some countries choose not to have a national motto.
A
Algeria: بالشعب و للشعب (Arabic, By the people and for the people)[1]
Andorra: Virtus, Unita, Fortior (Latin, Virtue, Unity, Strength)[2]
Antigua and Barbuda: Each endeavouring, all achieving[3]
Argentina: En Unión y Libertad (Spanish, In Union and Liberty)[4]
Australia: none, formerly Advance Australia[5]
Austria: none. Formerly AEIOU, with one possible meaning being Austriae est imperare orbi universo (Latin, It is Austria's destiny to rule the world)
Austria-Hungary: Indivisibiliter ac Inseparabiliter (Latin, Indivisibly and inseparably) [6]
Azerbaijan: none
B
Bahamas: Forward, Upward, Onward Together[7]
Bangladesh: none
Barbados: Pride and Industry[8]
Belarus: none
Belgium: Eendracht maakt macht, L'union fait la force and Einigkeit gibt Stärke (Dutch, French and German, Unity gives Strength)[9]
Belize: Sub umbra floreo (Latin, Under the shade I flourish)[10]
Benin: Fraternité, Justice, Travail (French, Fellowship, Justice, Labour)[11]
Bermuda: "Quo fata ferunt" (Latin) wither the fates carry us
Bolivia: La Unión es la Fuerza (Spanish, Unity is Strength)[12]
The national motto of Bolivia, La Unión es la Fuerza (Unity is Strength), is inscribed on the national currency.
The national motto of Brazil, Ordem e progresso (Order and progress), is inscribed on the flag.
Brazil: Ordem e progresso (Portuguese, Order and progress)[14]
Brunei: الدائمون المحسنون بالهدى (Arabic, Always in service with God's guidance)[15]
Bulgaria: Съединението прави силата (Bulgarian, Union Makes Strength)[16]
Burkina Faso: Unité, Progrès, Justice (French, Unity, Progress, Justice)[17]
Burundi: Unité, Travail, Progrès (French, Unity, Work, Progress)[18]
C
Cambodia: Nation, Religion, King[19]
Cameroon: Paix - Travail - Patrie (French, Peace, Work, Fatherland)[20]
Canada: A mari usque ad mare (Latin, From sea to sea)[21]
Central African Republic: Unité, Dignité, Travail (French, Unity, Dignity, Work)[22]
Chad: Unité, Travail, Progrès (French, Unity, Work, Progress)[23]
Chile: Por la razón o la fuerza (Spanish, By reason or by strength)[24]
People's Republic of China: none
Colombia: Libertad y orden (Spanish, Freedom and order)[25]
Comoros: Unité, Justice, Progrès (French, Unity, justice, progress)[26]
Confederate States of America: Deo Vindice (Latin, Under God, Our Vindicator)[27]
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Justice - Paix - Travail (French, Justice, Peace, Work)[28]
Republic of the Congo: Unité, Travail, Progrès (French, Unity, Work, Progress)[29]
Costa Rica: Vivan siempre el trabajo y la paz (Spanish, Long live work and peace)citation needed
Côte d'Ivoire: Union, Discipline, Travail (French, Unity, Discipline, Labor)[30]
Cuba: Patria o muerte (Spanish, Homeland or death)[31]
Czech Republic: Pravda vítězí! (Czech, Truth prevails!)[32]
D
Denmark': None. Motto of Queen Margrethe II: Guds hjælp, Folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke (Danish, God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength)
Djibouti: Itixaad, Gudboonaan, Ammaan and Unité, Égalité, Paix (Somali and French: Unity, Equality, Peace)[33]
Dominica: Après le Bondie, C'est la Ter (French Patois, After the Good Lord, we love the Earth)[34]
Dominican Republic: Dios, Patria, Libertad (Spanish, God, Country, Liberty)[35]
E
East Timor: Honra, pátria e povo (Portuguese, Honour, homeland and people)[36]
Ecuador: Dios, patria y libertad (Spanish, God, homeland and liberty)citation needed
El Salvador: Dios, Unión, Libertad (Spanish, God, Union, Liberty)[37]
Equatorial Guinea: Unidad, Paz, Justicia (Spanish, Unity, Peace, Justice)[38]
Estonia: None
European Union: In varietate concordia (Latin for United in diversity, Unie dans la diversité, etc.Translated into the languages of the member states of the EU)[39]
F
G
Gabon: Union, Travail, Justice (French, Union, Work, Justice)[42]
Gambia: Progress, Peace, Prosperity[43]
Georgia: ძალა ერთობაშია! (Dzala ertobashia) (Georgian, Strength is in Unity)[44]
Ghana: Freedom and Justice[45]
Greece:
Grenada: Ever Conscious of God We Aspire, and Advance as One People[46]
Guatemala: Libre Crezca Fecundo (Spanish: Grow Free and Fertile)[47]
Guinea: Travail, Justice, Solidarité (French, Work, Justice, Solidarity)[48]
Guinea-Bissau: Unidade, Luta, Progresso (Portuguese, Unity, Struggle, Progress)[49]
Guyana: One people, one nation, one destiny[50]
H
Haiti: L'union fait la force (French, Unity makes strength)[51]
Holy See: none
Honduras: Libre, Soberana E Independiente(Spanish, Free, sovereign and independent)[52]
Hungary: none, formerly Regnum Mariae Patrona Hungariae (Latin, Kingdom of Mary, the Patron of Hungary)
I
Iceland: Með lögum skal land byggja (Upon law shall a country be built)
India: सत्यमेव जयते (Satyameva Jayate) (Sanskrit, Truth alone triumphs)[53]
Indonesia: Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Old Javanese, Unity in diversity)[54]
Iran:
- de facto: Esteqlāl, āzādī, jomhūrī-ye eslāmī[55] (Persian, Independence, freedom, (the) Islamic Republic)
- de jure: Allaho Akbar (Arabic, God is Great)[56]
- The imperial motto, before the Islamic revolution, was Marā dād farmūd-o khod dāvar ast (Persian, Justice He bids me do, as He will judge me).[57]
Iraq: الله أكبر (Allahu Akbar) (Arabic, God is Great)[58]
Ireland: none
Israel: none
Italy: none.
J
Jamaica: Out of many, one people[59]
Japan: none.
Jordan: الله الوطن المليك (Allah, Alwattan, Almaleek) God, country, sovereign
The motto of Kiribati, Te mauri, te raoi ao te tabomoa (Health, Peace and Prosperity), is shown on the coat of arms.
K
L
Laos: Peace, independence, democracy, unity and prosperity[62]
Latvia: Tēvzemei un Brīvībai (Latvian, For Fatherland and Freedom)citation needed
Lesotho: Khotso, Pula, Nala (Sotho, Peace, Rain, Prosperity)[63]
Lebanon: None
Liberia: The love of liberty brought us here[64]
Liechtenstein: Für Gott, Fürst und Vaterland (German, For God, Prince and Fatherland)citation needed
Lithuania: Tautos jėga vienybėje (Lithuanian, The strength of the nation lies in unity)
Luxembourg: Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn (Luxembourgish, We wish to remain what we are)[65]
M
Madagascar: Tanindrazana, Fahafahana, Fandrosoana (Malagasy, Ancestral-land, Liberty, Progress)[66]
Malawi: Unity and Freedom[67]
Malaysia: Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu (Malay, Unity is Strength)[68]
Mali: Un peuple, un but, une foi (French, One people, one goal, one faith)[69]
Mauritania: شرف إخاء ع or Honneur, Fraternité, Justice (Arabic and French, Honor, Fraternity, Justice)[70]
Mauritius: Stella Clavisque Maris Indici (Latin, Star and key of the Indian Ocean)[71]
Mexico: None
Monaco: Deo juvante (Latin, With God's help)[72]
Montenegro: Čojstvo i junaštvo / Чојство и јунаштво (Serbian, Manliness and heroism )citation needed
Morocco: الله، الوطن، الملك (Arabic, God, the Country, the King)[73]
N
Namibia: Unity, liberty, justice[74]
Nauru: God's will first[75]
Nepal: जननी जन्मभूमिष्च स्वर्गादपि गरियसि (Sanskrit, Mother and motherland are greater than heaven)[76]
Netherlands: Je maintiendrai, Ik zal handhaven (French, Dutch I will stand fast)[77]
New Zealand: none[78]
Nicaragua: En Dios Confiamos (Spanish, In god we trust)[79]
Niger: Fraternité, Travail, Progrès (French, Fraternity, Work, Progress)[80]
Nigeria: Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress[81]
Norway: none Royal motto: Alt for Norge (Norwegian, Everything for Norway)
O
P
Pakistan: Ittihad, Yaqeen-mukkam, Nizam (Urdu, Unity, Faith, Discipline)[82]
Palestine: none (Arabic, none)[83]
Panama: Pro mundi beneficio (Latin, For the benefit of the world)[84]
Papua New Guinea: Unity in Diversitycitation needed
Paraguay: Paz y justicia (Spanish, Peace and justice)[85]
Philippines: Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa (Tagalog, For God, People, Nature and Country)[86]
- Former: Isang bansa, isang diwa (Tagalog, One nation, one spirit)
Poland: Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna (Polish, God, Honor, Fatherland). Traditional, but unofficial. See also Unofficial mottos of Poland.
Portugal: none
Q
R
S
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic: حرية ديمقراطية وحدة (Hassānīya Arabic, Liberty, Democracy, Unity)[88]
Saint Kitts and Nevis: Country Above Self[89]
Saint Lucia: The land, the people, the light[90]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Pax et justitia (Latin, Peace and justice)[91]
Samoa: Fa'avae i le Atua Samoa (Samoan, God be the Foundation of Samoa)[92]
San Marino: Libertas (Latin, Liberty)[93]
Scotland:In My Defens God Me Defend (Often shown abbreviated as IN DEFENS)
Saudi Arabia: لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله (lā ilāhā illā-llāhu; muhammadu-r-rasūlu-llāhi) (Arabic, (from the shahada) There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet)[94]
Senegal: Un peuple, un but, une foi (French, One people, one goal, one faith)[95]
Serbia: Само Слога Србина Спасава (Serbian), "Only Unity Saves the Serbs".
The inescutcheon stands for the Serbian Nation; in a red shield, a cross between four silver firesteels arranged in the quarters around it, all of them facing horizontally outwards. The four silver firesteels stands for the Serbian letters S (C); Само Слога Србина Спасава (Only Unity Saves the Serbs).
Seychelles: Finis coronat opus (Latin, The end crowns the work)[96]
Sierra Leone: Unity, freedom, justice[97]
Singapore: Majulah Singapura (Malay, Onward Singapore)[98]
Slovakia: none
Slovenia: Stati inu obstati (old Slovene, To Stand and Withstand, also translated as To Exist and Persevere)[99]
Solomon Islands: To lead is to serve[100]
South Africa: !ke e: /xarra //ke (/Xam, Diverse people unite or Unity in Diversity)[101]
- Former: Ex Unitate Vires (Latin, From unity, strength, from 1910-2000)
Soviet Union: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Russian, Proletarians of all countries, unite!)
Spain: Plus Ultra (Latin, Further beyond)[102]
Sudan: النصر لن (Al-Nasr Lana: Arabic, Victory is Ours)[103]
Suriname: Justitia, pietas, fides (Latin, Justice, piety, loyalty)[104]
Swaziland: Siyinqaba (Swati, We are the fortress)[105]
Sweden: royal motto: För Sverige - i tiden (Swedish, For Sweden - With the times) (See all royal mottos)
Switzerland: Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno (Latin: One for all, all for one...(traditional, but not official))
Syria: وحدة ، حرية ، اشتراكية (Wihdah, Hurriyyah, Ishtirākiyyah) (Arabic, Unity, Freedom, Socialism) Ba'th Party motto
T
Tanzania: Uhuru na Umoja (Swahili, Freedom and Unity)[106]
Thailand: ชาติ ศาสนา พระมหากษัตริย์ (Thai, Nation, Religion, King)
Togo: Travail, Liberté, Patrie (French, Work, liberty, homeland)[107]
Tonga: Ko e ʻOtua mo Tonga ko hoku tofiʻa (Tongan, God and Tonga are my Inheritance)[108]
Trinidad and Tobago: Together we aspire, together we achieve[109]
Tunisia: Order, Freedom, and Justice[110]
Turkey: Egemenlik kayıtsız şartsız milletindir. (Turkish, Sovereignty rests unconditionally with the nation)[111]
and Yurtta sulh, cihanda sulh. (Turkish, Peace in the homeland, peace in the world.)[112]
Tuvalu: Tuvalu mo te Atua (Tuvaluan, Tuvalu for the Almighty)[113]
U
V
Y
Z
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