Slogan (heraldry)

It is a variant of the earlier slogorn, which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm (sluagh "army", "host" + gairm "cry").

For example, the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom contains the motto DIEU ET MON DROIT ("God and my right") which has been thought to originated as a war cry, as has the motto MONTJOYE SAINT-DENIS which appeared on the former French coat of arms.

[a] Several mottoes found in Irish heraldry, which end in a boo, are also thought to have originated as war cries.

Many slogans pertaining to Scottish clan chiefs have been registered relatively recently at the Court of the Lord Lyon.

In at least one case, a patron saint is used as a slogan, as in St Bennet and Set On of the Setons.