19 Mar 2010

Nemo * me * impune * lacessit

Mainly, this is the Latin motto of the Order of the Thisle. It also the moto of several regiments of the British Army. There's a French equivalent phrase that goes: Non inultus premor ("I cannot be touched with impunity"), also a reference to the thistle, which is the symbol of the region of Lorraine.


According to legend, the "guardian thistle" ( Scotch thistle) has played its part in the defence of the ancient realm of Scotland against a night attack by the Danes, one of whom let out a yell of pain when he stepped on a prickly thistle, thus alerting the Scottish defenders. In the motto "No-one attacks me with impunity" (Latin: "Nemo me impune lacessit"), "me" was therefore originally the thistle itself, but by extension now refers to the Scottish regiments which have adopted it.

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