However, it was first cited in 1836 by a friend and collaborator of Antoine d'Abbadie's, the Souletin Agosti Xaho (Etudes grammaticales sur la langue euskarienne, dedicated to the Zazpirak Bat).

The motto is based on a similar one fashioned by the Enlightenment society Real Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del País in 1765, Irurac bat, 'the three [are] one', after the provinces currently making up the Basque Autonomous Community), while a like variant was created too in the 19th century known as Laurak bat ('the four [are] one', after the four Basque peninsular provinces), a motto quoted and celebrated by the Provincial Government of Navarre in 1866.

The original Zazpiak Bat features a design of traditional arms of the Basque territories, namely Araba, Gipuzkoa, and Bizkaia (which form the Basque Autonomous Community) plus Nafarroa; and the three that are part of the Pyrénées Atlantiques department (Lapurdi, Zuberoa and Baxe-Nafarroa).

The modern design is based on the current simplified heraldry of these territories.

The red background of the Navarrese insignia currently occupies the fourth quarter of the coat of arms of the Basque Country.