Mottoes in English

Heraldry of the World The main resource for civic heraldry since 1996 with over 85.000 images

An overview of English-language Mottoes used in civic heraldry.

For all mottoes, see here.

Mottoes are very common in the British-style heraldry (UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand), and much less common in other countries. Therefore the large majority of the mottoes listed here are from towns and councils in the British region.

If you see a motto on the site that is not yet listed here or have any other addition,
please mail me !

Only true mottoes are listed here, no town names in banners around the arms.

The mottoes are sorted by first letter. For clarity no capital letters are used, except the first letter as well as town names.

Motto	Used by
A loyal three made stronger in one	Loyalist Township
Agriculture and commerce	Maidstone
All things for the glory of God	Chingford
All this beauty is of God	Isle of Wight
All’s well	Camberwell
Always advancing	Thornaby-on-Tees
Always ready	South Tyneside, Glanford, Glanford Brigg
Ancient and loyal	Wigan
Aspire	Chesterfield
Be just and fear not	Pudsey
Beauty surrounds health abounds	Morecambe and Heysham
Believe - love - obey	Christ Church Cathedral, Fredericton
Born in conflict - settled in peace	Ajax
By concord and industry	Droylsden
By effort achieve	West Yorkshire
By faith and industry	Knowsley, Grimsby RDC
By faith and foresight	Wirral
By faith foresight and industry	Durham RDC
By industry and integrity	Berwick (Nova Scotia), Nelson (Borough)
By industry and prudence	Hyndburn
By knowledge design and understanding	Milton Keynes
By sea and forest enchanted	Lymington
By service let us govern	Tadcaster
By truth and diligence	South Bedfordshire, Leighton-Linslade
By wisdom and foresight	Braintree
By worth	Keighley, Farnham
Come all who are weary and heavy laden	Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa
Constant be	Bedfordshire
Country above self	Saint Kitts and Nevis
Courage and faith	Guilford County
Defend the right	Horncastle RDC
Desire the right	Falkland Islands
Determined we began - determined we remain	Ameliasburg
Do well (and) doubt not	Tottenham, Tunbridge Wells
Do well and fear not	Elstree, Hertsmere
Each shall strive for the welfare of all	South Yorkshire
Endeavour	Cleveland
Ever conscious of God, we aspire, build and advance as one people	Grenada
Ever forward	Weston-super-Mare
Ever looking forward	East Down
Ever vigilant	Greater Manchester
Except the Lord keep the city	Halifax (Yorkshire)
Faith and industry	Abingdon
Faith foresight and industry	Durham (City)
Faith in the future	Mbabane
Faith work service	Calne
Fear God honour the king	Parish of St. Andrews, Wrexham Borough
Fellowhip is life	Walthamstow, Waltham Forest
For God an my country	Uganda
For king law and people	West Suffolk
For’ard for’ard	Leicestershire
Forever learning	Bond University
Forward	Hayes and Harlington , Hillingdon, Birmingham
Forward as one	Stockton-on-Tees
Forward in unity/unison	Bury, Tonbridge and Malling
Forward together	Medway
Forward, upward, onward together	Bahamas
Foursquare to all winds	Alford
Freedom and justice	Ghana
Freely we serve	Amersham RDC, Chiltern
Fresh courage take	Newport Pagnell RDC
From great things to greater	Tower Hamlets
Glad of thy word	Parish of St. George's, Pickering Village
God’s will first	Nauru
God with us	Dursley RDC
Going forward in faith	Saint Matthews, Ingleside
Goodwill to al lpeople	Ballymoney
Grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ	Parish of St. George's, Georgetown
Guide our endeavours	Suffolk
He hath founded it upon the seas	Cayman Islands
He shall rule from the river to the ends of the Earth	Parish of St. Paul's, Dunville
Heaven’s light our guide	Portsmouth
Hold fast that which is good	Trafford
Hold to the thruth	Burnley, Braintree and Bocking
I grow and I rejoice	Crawley
I have prepared a lamp	Parish of St, Mark's Qualicum Beach
I will lift up mine eyes	Bowland
In counsel is stability	Windsor
In thee are the springs of our life	Parish of St. John's, Cambridge
In unity progress	Ilford, Redbridge, Gateshead
In unity we serve	Lincolnshire
Inasmuch	Norfolk Island
Industry and integrity	Tameside
Industry and prudence conquer	Accrington
Industry enriches	Spenborough
Integrity	Dukinfield
Jewel of the Thames	Maidenhead
Justice – prosperity - liberty	South Sudan
Keep faith	Crewkerne
Know thy contree	West Wiltshire
Knowledge and service	Njala University
Knowledge for service	University of Development Studies
Let us grow in service	Louth RDC
Like as the oak	Uckfield
Looking backward, looking forward	Twickenham
Loyal and true	Chatham, Rochester upon Medway
Loyal and unshakeable	Saint Helena
Many minds – one heart	Chelmsford
Never wonne ne never shall	Reigate, Reigate and Banstead
New frontiers - new beginnings	Castor
No cross, no crown	Colchester
Not for ourselves alone	Barnes
Nothing without labour	Haslingden
Obtain wisdom	Oadby and Wigston
Old yet ever new	New Forest, New Forest RDC
One and all	Cornwall
Onward	Hyde, Fleetwood
Onward with confidence	Ogwr
Our faith is our strength	Tristan da Cunha
Our spirits rejoice	Saint Luke's Cathedral, Sault Ste. Marie
Out of darkness cometh light	Wolverhampton
Out of many one people	Jamaica
Peace	Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Canada
Persevere	Denton
Pride in our past, faith in our future	Mississauga, Hertford
Pride - spirit - vision	Armstrong
Progress	Blackpool
Progress – industry - humanity	Bradford
Progress – peace - prosperity	Gambia
Progress by endeavour	Long Eaton
Progress in unity	Teesside
Progress through endeavour	South Holland, Spalding RDC
Progress with humanity	South Ribble, Haringey
Progress with unity	Wigan
Prosperity through endeavour	Rossendale
Proud heritage - promising future	Castor
Research and discovery	Falkland Islands Dependencies and British Antarctic Territory
Rejoice in the lord alway	Saint Paul's Cathedral, Regina
Risen - ascended - glorified	Parish of All Saints, Peterborough
Seek strive attain	Seaton
Serve God and be cheerful	Sutton and Cheam
Serve one another	Chesham
Serve with amnity	Boston (Borough), Boston RDC
Serve with honour	Slough
Service and efficiency	Stretford
Service links all	Lincolnshire - Parts of Lindsey, Leatherhead
Service with justice	Alnwick
Service without prejudice	South Norfolk
Share - enjoy - prosper	Letchworth Garden
Sharing God’s love	Saint James, Stouffvile
Sincerity	Southam
Sow for posterity	Longridge
Stand fast in honour and strength	Merton
Strength growth	Haldimand County
Strength in unity	Rushmoor
Striving toward a magnificent future	Quinte West
The heart of a town lies in it speople	Stevenage
The knot unites	Staffordshire
The land, the people, the light	Saint Lucia
The love of liberty brought us here	Liberia
Þreo on anan gebundene (Three joined together in one)	Deddington
To lead is to serve	Solomon Islands
Together we serve	Kirklees
Together we stand	Conception Bay South
Tread the smoother ways of peace	Niagara Falls
True worth never fails	Failsworth
Twixt Severn and Wye	Forest of Dean, Lydney
Unite to flourish	Aldridge-Brownhills
United to serve/United we serve	Southwark, Torfaen
United we advance	Huntingdon and Godmanchester
United we endeavour	Redcar with Cleveland
United we serve	Cotswold
Unity and freedom	Malawi
Unity and progress	Melksham, Sandwell, Warley
Unity and service	Silsden
Unity growth prosperity	Taber
Unity is strength	Salisbury and Wilton
Unity responsibility loyalty	Niagara
Upon this rock	Peterborough
Vigilant in faith and indusrty	Cleethorpes
Vision courage integrity	Maldon
We grow by industry	Blyth Valley
We long endure	Colne
We prosper by industry	Todmorden
We serve	Islington, Yiewsley and West Drayton
We serve as one	South Pembrokeshire
Where justice rules, there virtue flows	Leominster
Who’s afear’d	Dorset
Wisdom knowledge and trust	Clarington
With fort and fleet for home and England	Gillingham