Dieu et mon droit

[1] The motto is said to have first been used by Richard I (1157–1199) as a battle cry (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.

Diderot's Encyclopédie lists the motto as Dieu est mon droit, which Susan Emanuel translated as "God is my right".

[14] So after his victories on the crusades "Richard was speaking what he believed to be the truth when he told the Holy Roman Emperor: 'I am born of a rank which recognises no superior but God'".

[20] Versions of the Coat of Arms, with the motto, are used by various newspapers, including Melbourne's The Age in Australia, Christchurch's The Press in New Zealand, the UK's Daily Mail, and Canada's Victoria Times Colonist.

It is also found on the official belt buckle of the Jamaica Constabulary Force;[citation needed] the front page of a British passport; the rank slide of a warrant officer in the British and other Commonwealth armed forces; the arms of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Supreme Court of Victoria and Supreme Court of New South Wales; and the crests of Hawthorn Rowing Club in Melbourne, Australia, Nottingham Law School, and Sherborne School.

[24] Other people considered the phrase Dieu est mon droit (God is my right) means he was direct sovereign and not vassal of any other king.

[25] Another example of Dieu est mon droit is inscribed under the royal coat of arms on the over mantle of the High Great Chamber in Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire.