Að enginn en guðirnir

The coat of arms of Vasturia notably omits the national motto in favour of ég Standa, a secondary motto of Vasturia.

Að enginn en guðirnir (Central Suevi: "To none but the gods") is the national motto of Vasturia as defined by the Constitution of Vasturia, and prominently appears on most government documents and buildings with the notable exception of the coat of arms (and correspondingly the flag) of Vasturia. First adopted by the revolutionary republican revolutionaries of Dagmar in the mid-19th century, the motto at once reflects the deep religiosity of the Vasturian people and the egalitarian desire of the Vasturian people to be answerable to none except the gods.

History

The phrase Að enginn en guðirnir was created by romantic nationalist poet and revolutionary Eríkur Sigurdsson during the Dagmari Revolution of [DATE] as a rallying cry of the revolutionaries; following the revolution's success, the motto was subsequently adopted as the official motto of the Vasturian People's Republic that existed from [DATE] to 1863, with the exception of that state's atheist period. Although the motto's overtly religious nature proved to be somewhat popular with Druids and other anti-revolutionary conservatives, it nevertheless remained controversial amongst such conservatives groupings because of its revolutionary origins and egalitarian aspirations of popular sovereignty; furthermore, Sigursson's choice of a vernacular, regional dialect as opposed to one of the national languages angered both conservatives and other ethnic groups alike. However, such groups ultimately acquiesced due to the motto's religious origins and historical significance. However, as a civic compromise it was agreed upon that Að enginn en guðirnir would not be used on either the coat of arms or flag of Vasturia in favour of ég Standa (Central Suevi" I stand, the contrasting motto used by conservative nationalists during the Wars of Unification.

Meaning

In many ways, Að enginn en guðirnir encapsulates the fundamental spirit and ethos of the modern Vasturian nation since the 19th century; like Vasturia as a whole, it is at once overtly conservative and religious in its deep and public reverence for Fírinnism, but at a deeper level reveals a fundamental "equality amongst man", to quote the Vasturian Revolutionary Declaration of [DATE]. The Vasturian people, in both their motto and their actions, assert a sovereignty derived from and governing the people, who are guaranteed relative equality of outcome and know no earthly hierarchy but that which is either democratically-chosen or, in the view of Vasturians, 'supernaturally-ordained' (i.e., the Fírinnist clergy).

Furthermore, the motto's revolutionary spirit is conspicuously displayed by Sigurdsson's choice of a vernacular language, rather than High Tauriscian or High Suevi; to the Vasturian public of the 19th-century, the motto would have been far more easily understandable than the intellectual and liturgical language of High Tauriscian utilised by the clerical and political elite of the day. Furthermore, Sigurdsson's choice of the vernacular would have been understood by 19th-century observers to reveal an underlying anti-clerical sentiment, as it asserts the superiority of folk religious traditions and rites primarily conducted in the vernacular as opposed to the High Tauriscian (the sacred language of Fírinnism) rites conducted by the Sacred Circle of Druids. The choice of Central Suevi as opposed to another vernacular language, or High Suevi, was not because of some sort of Dagmari ethnic nationalism (although fears of such a nationalism were one of the chief sources of opposition to the motto in the 1860s); rather, this was merely the result of original revolutionary intentions only extending to the Central Suevi-speaking lands controlled by Dagmar at the time of the Dagmari Revolution. By the time the Revolution had become explicitly Vasturian-wide in nature, the motto was far too ingrained in the revolutionary public's conscience to be changed.

Other mottos

Ég Standa

ég Standa (Central Suevi: I stand) was the alternative rallying cry used by conservative and clerical opponents of the Revolution's cause in the immediate wake of the Dagmari Revolution, particularly the local Dagmari elite. The motto was deliberately chosen as a reactionary symbol of unyielding defiance to the new revolutionary order that, like Að enginn en guðirnir, had become permanently-ingrained in the public's conscience and collective memory as a symbol of conservative reaction to the extent that it was chosen by the broader anti-revolutionary, largely non-Dagmari coalitions once the Revolution spread to all of Vasturia. Like Að enginn en guðirnir, ég Standa was deliberately in the vernacular, albeit as an elite attempt to appeal to the masses (an appeal that proved to be in vain) rather than for ideological reasons.

In modern times, ég Standa remains in place as the secondary motto of the Vasturian state as part of the political compromises between the various revolutionary and conservative factions in the early 1860s; like Að enginn en guðirnir, it is prominently displayed on various official documents and buildings (albeit to a lesser extent than Að enginn en guðirnir, which remains the primary motto of Vasturia and is the sole motto displayed on Vasturian currency), and enjoys the special status of being the sole motto to be displayed on the Vasturian coat of arms and thus the flag.