In this sign thou shalt conquer. (The motto is said to have been adopted by Constantine after his vision of a cross in the heavens just before his decisive battle with Maxentius, A.D. 312.)
| Latin Phrase: in hoc signo vinces |
In this sign thou shalt conquer. (The motto is said to have been adopted by Constantine after his vision of a cross in the heavens just before his decisive battle with Maxentius, A.D. 312.)
| Wikipedia: In hoc signo vinces |
In hoc signo vinces is the rendition in Latin of the Greek phrase "εν τούτω νίκα", en toutō nika, meaning "in this [sign] you will conquer".
According to legend, Constantine I adopted this Greek phrase, "εν τούτω νίκα", as a motto after his vision of a chi rho on the sky just before the Battle of Milvian Bridge against Maxentius in the year 312. The early Christian symbol consists in a monogram composed of the Greek letters chi (X) and rho (P), the first two in the name Christ (Greek: Χριστός). The historian Eusebius states that Constantine was marching with his army (Eusebius doesn't specify the actual location of the event, but it's clearly not in the camp at Rome), when he looked up to the sun and saw a cross of light above it, and with it the Greek words "εν τούτω νίκα" ("by this, be victorious!", often rendered in Latin as In hoc signo vinces). At first, Constantine didn't know the meaning of the apparition, but in the following night, he had a dream in which Christ explained to him that he should use the sign against his enemies. Eusebius then continues to describe the Labarum, the military standard used by Constantine in his later wars against Licinius, showing the Chi-Rho sign.
The phrase is the motto 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 is also in the coat of arms of the city of Bayamòn, Puerto Rico[1]. The phrase also appears prominently placed as a motto on a ribbon unfurled with a passion cross to its left, beneath a window over the Scala Regia, adjacent to the equestrian statue of Emperor Constantine, in the Vatican. Emperors and other monarchs, having paid respects to the Pope, descended the Scala Regia, and would observe the light shining down through the window, with the motto, reminiscent of Constantine's vision, and be reminded to follow the Cross. They would thence turn right into the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica, ostensibly so inspired. It is also the motto of the Taylor clan.
It was also 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 Luiz Vaz de Camões.
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