Information about legend: HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE

Translated from Old French: May he be shamed who thinks badly of it.

"Honi soit qui mal y pense" is an Old French maxim used as the motto of the British chivalric Order of the Garter (founded in 1348). It is translated as "May he be shamed who thinks badly of it" or "Shame be to him who thinks evil of it" or "Evil (or shame) be to him that evil thinks". Modern French spelling has changed honi to honni, but the motto has not been updated.

In English heraldry, the motto "Honi soit qui mal y pense" is used either as a stand-alone motto upon a motto scroll, or upon a circular representation of the Garter. This Garter has occasionally been displayed on coins of the United Kingdom since 1813. The motto is variously spelled as HONI · SOIT · QUI · MAL · Y · PENSE · (with separators) or HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE (no separators). On some coins part of the text is obscured by a crown intruding over the Garter.

For an order 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 on the the Royal Coat of Arms: Dieu et mon droit ("God and my right").

HONI · SOIT · QUI · MAL · Y · PENSE ·

United Kingdom / Sixpence 1816

The legend as shown on a sixpence of King George III, partly obscured by the crown on top.

HONI · SOIT · QUI · MAL · Y · PENSE ·

United Kingdom / Quarter Sovereign 2017 Garter

The legend as shown on a modern sovereign, where the garter goes all around the rim and is not obscured.