Coin Motto Part 4: In This Sign, You Will Conquer

Coin Enthusiasts and History Buffs welcome to Pendant and Ring. Coin mottoes are brief and memorable phrases found on coins that reflect the sentiment of a nation or empire during a particular era. Made popular through the Portuguese Empire which ruled various territories from 1415 to 1999, the motto, “In this Sign, You Will Conquer” spread across the globe.

Motto – In Hoc Signo Vinces

In 2022, the Lisbon Mint in Portugal released a 1,5 Euro gold coin reminiscent of earlier medieval coinage. The modern coin has the same motto as the 2 Reais minted in Angra, Portugal in 1583. The mottoes translate to “In This Sign, You Will Conquer” but the mottoes are not written in Portuguese.

Instead, all the coinage feature the Latin motto: In Hoc Signo Vinces.

Why are Coin Mottoes Latin?

During the European Middle Ages, most people couldn’t read, but monks and priests were taught to read Latin, the language of the Roman Church. Eventually, literacy increased, other languages were used in official settings, and people translated documents into their languages from Latin.

Still, Latin remained a common language among educated people. Knowing Latin was considered a sign of higher status, and a document written in Latin was taken more seriously in Medieval and Renaissance Europe than the same document written in Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, or later, English. Even today, coins, countries, and universities continue to use Latin in their mottoes.

In This Sign, You Will Conquer

Since long before the Divine Right of Kings, absolute monarchies claimed power from deities. Today’s motto shares the divine favor of absolute monarchs with loyal subjects in the form of coins.

The Legend surrounding this motto starts with Constantine, marching to battle, praying, seeing the sign of the cross and a banner with the slogan. He followed his vision and won many battles attributing his success to the Christian deity.

Portugal is not the only nation to use this motto. Many nations used the motto In hoc signo vinces because it originated in early Christian history. A few of those nations, and their coins, are listed here.

Dutch States, 1476, 1 Vlieger
French States, 1480, 1 Gold Magdalon
Frankish Greek Crusaders, 1512, 2 Deniers
The Belgium States, 1517, 1 Brûlé
The Kingdom of Naples, Italy, 1546, 3 Cavalli
Brazil, 1663, 125 Réis

The Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Separation of Church and State, and the decline of absolute monarchy altar the interpretations of this motto. The coin motto is steeped in Christian history that underpinned divine rule. In the absence of Divine Rule, what does this motto mean?

That’s for you to decide. Comment below and subscribe before you go – to get more Coin Mottoes in your inbox.