European State Mottos

The list

Austria

AEIOU

Austriae est imperare orbi universo (Latin)

It is Austria’s destiny to rule the world

Belgium

Eendracht maakt macht (Dutch)

L’union fait la force (French)

Einigkeit macht stark (German)

Strength through Unity

Bulgaria

Съединението прави силата (Bulgarian)

Saedinenieto pravi silata (transliteration)

Union Makes Strength

Cyprus

No agreement, no referendum

Czech Republic

Pravda vítězí (Czech)

Truth prevails

Denmark

Guds hjælp, Folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke (Danish)

The Help of God, the Love of the People, the Strength of Denmark

Estonia

Loomulikult pole me Venemaa (Estonian)

We’re obviously not Russia

Finland

Sisu, Sauna, Sibelius (Finnish)

Perseverance, Finnish bath, Finnish composer

France

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité (French)

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

Germany

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit (German)

Unity and Justice and Freedom

Greece

Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (Greek)

Eleftheria i thanatos (transliteration)

Freedom or Death

Hungary

Regnum Mariae Patronae Hungariae (Latin)

Kingdom of Mary, the Patron of Hungary

Ireland

Céad míle fáilte (Irish)

A hundred thousand welcomes

Italy

L’Italia è una Repubblica democratica fondata sul lavoro (Italian)

Italy is a democratic republic, founded on labour

Latvia

Tēvzemei un Brīvībai (Latvian)

For Fatherland and Freedom

Lithuania

Tautos jėga vienybėje (Lithuanian)

The strength of the nation lies in unity

Luxembourg

Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn (Luxembourgish)

We want to remain what we are

Malta

Virtute et Constantia (Latin)

By Valour and Firmness

Netherlands

Je maintiendrai (French)

Ik zal handhaven (Dutch)

I shall stand fast

Poland

Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna (Polish)

God, Honour, Fatherland

Portugal

O bem da Nação (Portuguese)

The good of the nation

Romania

Nihil Sine Deo (Latin)

Nothing Without God

Slovakia

Afferant Montes Pacem Populo (Latin)

May mountains bring people peace

Slovenia

Genocide Free Since 1991

Spain

Plus Ultra (Latin)

Further Beyond

Sweden

För Sverige - I tiden (Swedish)

United Kingdom

Dieu et mon droit (French)

God and my right

The notes

Unfortunately, as a lot of the preceding information is rubbish, the notes to clarify it are quite substantial. Unless otherwise stated, the mottos and translations come from the Wikipedia article List of national mottos.

Austria

“AEIOU” is actually only Austria’s former motto, and it has several possible interpretations, only one of which is the rather arrogant Latin phrase given above.

Belgium

The translation given here is a little interpretative, and a more literal translation would be “Unity creates Strength” or “Unity makes one strong”.

Bulgaria

If you don’t like that translation, you can look at another Wikipedia article which currently states it should be “Unity makes power”.

Cyprus

Of course this one is complete lies. Cyprus doesn’t actually have a national motto, but a BBC News article says that this is the motto of the Cypriot leaders on both sides, and if there is something that both sides can agree on, then I think it should be made into the national motto.

Czech Republic

Perhaps this could also be translated “Pravda prevails”, as that venerable news outlet is still around, covering its government’s sabre-rattling against the European nation.

Denmark

This is actually the motto of the Danish royal family, and has no official national status.

Estonia

Estonia is one of the EU states that really really doesn’t have a motto. They used to have one collectively with the rest of the Soviet Union when they were part of it, but my Estonian friend has encouraged me not to list that. When I asked him for a motto for Estonia, he didn’t feel qualified to define his entire nation in one epithet, so I suggested “We’re not Russia”, to which he replied, laughing “We’re obviously not Russia”, which I took as his answer. He kindly translated this into Estonian for me, and I challenge anyone to find a more fitting and valid motto for his homeland.

Finland

This is a highly unofficial motto, which perhaps more accurately applies to Finnish culture, specifically. It is appealing as the three words have all entered English parlance thanks to Finland

France

This famous motto seems to have faced a long and difficult journey to reach its current form and status, including being briefly replaced by “Travail, famille, patrie” (“Work, family, fatherland”) during World War II, inspired partly by Fascist ideology.

Germany

Germany’s motto is the same as the first line of their national anthem, which is itself the third verse of a song whose first verse is perhaps the more well known outside of Germany.

Greece

The nine syllables of this motto are supposedly related to the nine stripes of the Greek flag.

Hungary

This is only a former motto and has no official national status any more.

Ireland

Ireland does not have an official motto, but this one was apparently given to it by the country’s tourist board.

Italy

This is probably not Italy’s official motto, despite what some might say, but it is a significant national saying from the definition of the country at the beginning of its constitution. In case this choice of words, similar to the aforementioned motto of occupied France, is out of deference to fascist elements within the country, I put forward the following false translation as an astute political criticism: “Italy is a democratic country sitting on the toilet”.

Latvia

Here is a real motto, for a change.

Lithuania

Here too.

Luxembourg

I don’t know whether this motto is still (or was ever) a true expression of the feelings of the majority of the population, but Belgium certainly doesn’t seem to share this sentiment.

Malta

This motto may actually have been obsolete since 1975, when the coat of arms which bore this motto was superseded. However, if FIFA are to be believed, the motto is still in effect.

Netherlands

Making French the second most popular language for mottos after Latin, the Netherlands has its motto in this language as well as Dutch, despite the latter being the only official language of the country.

Poland

As the Wikipedia article “Unofficial mottos of Poland” makes clear, this motto is unofficial, but it is commonly used on military standards.

Portugal

There seems to be some doubt as to whether this is the country’s real motto, but again, FIFA confirms it.

Romania

This is another former motto and a royal motto, as it was the motto of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, used when Romania was a kingdom. I rather like, though, the suggested motto “This is the country where impossible becomes possible, and possible becomes impossible!”

Slovakia

Do they mean that mountains will stop any invading armies?

Slovenia

Unfortunately Slovenia doesn’t have an official motto, so I had to give this very unofficial, and extremely offensive, and slightly amusing motto which I got from a parodic news article.

Spain

It is not clear what Spain is “further beyond”, but if it is a geographical reference then perhaps Portugal’s motto could be “even further beyond”, like some bad sequel.

Sweden

This is a royal motto but it is nevertheless the official motto of the country. Sweden has the perhaps unique system of changing their motto with each new monarch.

United Kingdom

Some might think it strange that the country which contains the region after which the English language was named should have a French national motto. Perhaps if they do not like French, I have another option to suggest: Ich dien.

Conclusion

Well, I think that collection of fabrications and half-truths should be enough to convince anyone, depending on what it is you are trying to convince them of. That leaves just two questions: What about the state birds and the state flowers?