Information about legend: DIEU ET MON DROIT

Translated from French: God and my right.

Dieu et mon droit, meaning "God and my right", is the motto of the Monarch of the United Kingdom outside Scotland. It appears on a scroll beneath the shield of the version of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

The motto is said to have first been used by King Richard I (1157 - 1199) as a battle cry and presumed to be a reference to his French ancestry (indeed he spoke French and Occitan but knew only basic English) and the concept of the divine right of the Monarch to govern. It was adopted as the royal motto of England by King Henry V (1386 - 1422) with the phrase "and my right" referring to his claim by descent to the French crown.

For the Royal Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of England to have a French rather than English motto was not unusual, given that Norman French was the primary language of the English Royal Court and ruling class following the rule of William the Conqueror of Normandy and later the Plantagenets. Another Old French phrase also appears in the full achievement of the Royal Arms. The motto of the Order of the Garter, Honi soit qui mal y pense ("Spurned be the one who evil thinks"), appears on a representation of a garter behind the shield.

The motto is sometimes displayed on coins of the United Kingdom, as well as British dependencies ruled by the same monarch.

DIEU · ET · MON DROIT on a coin from St Helena

Saint Helena / Double Sovereign 2022 Platinum Jubilee

Illustrated here is the legend on a gold coin (double sovereign) issued in the British overseas territory of Saint Helena to commemorated the Queen's Platinum Jubilee (70 years on the throne).