
Last modified: 2026-03-14 by martin karner
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(instagram.com/parlch)Switzerland as a whole as well as several of the cantons have their traditional mottos.
The national motto, "One for all, all for one"¹, came into use in Switzerland in the 1830s.
It has been made famous worldwide by Alexandre Dumas' book The Three Musketeers (1842): "All for
one, one for all, that is our device." William Shakespeare thought of it before Dumas, but had it the
other way round in The Rape of Lucrece (1594): "One for all, all for one we gage." In its
Latin form, "Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno", it was adopted as the unofficial motto of
Switzerland in the latter half of the 19th century. The fact that it exists in Latin indicates that it
might be a lot older, but no ancient Latin citation has been found. Therefore, Shakespeare continues to
take credit for its origin (Sources: idiomorigins.org, de.wikipedia.org).
¹ German: Einer für alle, alle für einen; French: Un pour tous, tous pour un;
Italian: Uno per tutti, tutti per uno; Romansh: In per tuts, tuts per in; Latin:
Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno
About two thirds of the Swiss cantons have a motto (mostly in Latin), which have been placed on
flags, beside arms, on public buildings, on coins etc.
Here a list of the mottos with their English translation and source (as far as known), followed by some
pictorial examples.
Zurich
Laufen Castle (source) |
Ducat, 1709 (source) |
Bern
Duplone, 1793 (source) |
Lucerne
20 Ducats, 1745 (source) |
Uri
Batzen, 1569 (source) |
Schwyz
Batzen, 1622 (source) |
Obwalden
½ Batzen, 1812 (source) |
Zug
Thaler, 1565 (source) |
Fribourg
Guldiner, 151947 (source) |
Solothurn
10 Batzen, 1788 (source) |
Basel-City
4 Ducats, 1740 (source) |
Schaffhausen
Dragoon standard, 1713 (source: [b7b42]) |
Baroque stucco, 1733, City Church Schaffhausen (source) |
Appenzell Inner-Rhodes
15 Kreuzer, 1738 (source) |
Appenzell Outer-Rhodes
4 Francs, 1816 (source) |
Grisons
Boundary stone, 1735 (source) |
Vaud
Cantonal flag (source) |
Shako fusilier officer, 1838 (1er-empire.com) |
Geneva
Prospect, 1638 (source) |
Wine label, 2023 (source) |
Martin Karner, 1 March 2026