Horace and Heraldry

Extract

TheNew English Dictionary defines the word ‘motto’ as being ‘originally a word, sentence or phrase attached as a legend to an “impresa” or emblematical design and serving to explain or emphasize its symbolic import’. A wider definition of the word follows, in which two epithets are prominent—‘short’ and ‘appropriate’. The rightness of the former is emphasized by the etymology of the word under discussion. Indeed, the very word ‘motto’ is of modern use, since our forefathers preferred to speak of their ‘word’. This certainly is a caveat against undue prolixity. Of the mottoes listed below, most consist of four or fewer words.