Use By Nobility
The phrase is the motto on some Byzantine silver coins (f.e. the silver miliaresia of Basil II and Constantine VIII, coined between 977 and 989).
It appears on the coat of arms borne by Jan III Sobieski and other members of the Sobieski line; it is also on the coat of arms of the Irish noble dynasty of O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, the Noble House of Vassallo, and is the motto of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George.
It was used as a motto by the Portuguese monarchy. According to the legend, King Afonso Henriques saw the sign of the "quinas" -Portugal's heraldic symbol- at the battle of Ourique, adopting them as the national symbol and the motto as a consequence. This legend is told in The Lusiads by Luís de Camões.
Read more about this topic: In Hoc Signo Vinces
Famous quotes containing the word nobility:
“Something has ceased to come along with me.
Something like a person: something very like one.
And there was no nobility in it
Or anything like that.”
—Jon Silkin (b. 1930)