Honi soit qui may y pense.
It's the motto of the royal family in Britain. In English dictionaries give "evil to him who evil thinks", but this is not, to my knowledge, very often used. "Honi soit ..." on the other hand is maybe too closely related to its House of Windsor motto status.

This is the motto of the Most Noble Order of the Garter ("Hosenbandorden"), whose home is St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
(The motto of the House of Windsor is "Ich dien".)
As it is internationally known, I wouldn't translate it into English.

Wenn schon korrigieren, dann aber auch bitte richtig!!!

haben wir jetzt dann alle schreibweisen?

ääähm - war doch richtig, wie reinhard es geschrieben hat?!

es ist halt noch sehr früh heute...

"Ich dien" is the motto of the Prince of Wales (not of the House of Windsor); btw it is not German but misspelled Welsh: "Eich dyn" (= Your man). Cf. BrewerŽs Phrase and Fable

komischerweise taucht aber, wenn man bei google sucht, auf französischen Seiten nur die Variante mit "honny" auf...

Im Micro Rober steht:
Honni soit qui mal y pense.
Und die letzte Behauptung kaufe ich dem Autor des anonymen Beitrags nicht ab. Wenn ich "honny soit qui mal" in Google eingebe, erhalte ich lauter "nicht-Französische" Hits (und sehr wenige Hits dazu). Und wenn man mal grammatisch an die Sache herangeht und sich die Konjugationsregeln für Verben auf -ir in Erinnerung ruft (honnir, in dem Fall), dann scheint mir das "y" sehr unwahrscheinlich.

Im Wappen der englischen Könige steht seit Henry VIII "Honi soit qui mal y pense" ("honi" mit einem n); in Langenscheidts Taschenwörterbuch Französisch jedoch "honni soit qui mal y pense" (übersetzt als: "Ein Schuft, der Schlechtes dabei denkt"). Vielleicht ist "honi" mittelalterliches und "honni" modernes Französisch?

"Ich dien" ist das Motto des Prince of Wales, nicht des House of Windsor: da hatte ich mich geirrt./
Zu allem anderen: s. URL unter der Überschrift "The Badge".

Mir sind die Varianten honny und honni auf französischen Webseiten begegnet. honni scheint die modernere Form zu sein. und honi erscheint mir als eine "eingeenglischte" (gibt es dieses Wort überhaupt??? *g*) Form zu sein...

"eich dyn" ? welsh? are you pulling our legs mm?

"Ich dien" (the motto of the Prince of Wales) derived from Welsh or German?

"According to a Welsh tradition, Edward I. promised to provide Wales with a prince who could speak no word of English, and when his son Edward of Carnarvon was born, he presented him to the assembly, saying in Welsh *Eich dyn* (behold your man)." Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898.
"According to Camden the crest or badge of the three ostrich feathers, with the motto Ich dien, borne by the Prince of Wales was originally that of John of Bohemia and was first assumed by Edward the Black Prince after the battle of Crecy. There is no proof however, that this badge was ever born by John; it certainly was not his crest, and its origin must be sought elsewhere." (The 1911 Edition Encyclopaedia)
The crest of John of Bohemia had always been the wing of an eagle; the three ostrich feathers were from the House of Hainault, from which Edward the Black PrinceŽs mother came.
The widespread legend that the motto of the Prince of Wales is of German origin may have been created when the German House of Hanover ascended to the English throne.

I am from the town of Hanover, and I always wondered whether Georg Ludwig, from 1714 king of Great Britain and Ireland, made any impact on the English language. People in Hanover say he did not speak English. Did he have any influence?

George I was too unpopular to have any linguistic influence.

How about his successors?

The first German-speaking Prince of Wales was George (later King George II), created Sept 27, 1714. Since then this title has been borne by princes of the German Houses of Hanover and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and this certainly enforced the myth of "Ich dien" as a motto of German origin, especially as most Princes of Wales before the present one did not show much interest in Wales and Welsh culture or language.
It is quite incomprehensible why in an era when French or English speaking royalty took mottos either in French ("Dieu et mon droit" - motto of the English kings) or in Latin ("Nemo me impune lacessit" - motto of the Scottish kings) an English prince of Wales should accept a German motto - and take it from a King of Bohemia who was also count of Luxembourg with French and Flemish ancestors...
I presume that the myth of "Ich dien" being German and meaning "I serve" is a product of the time of Prince Albert (the prince consort of Victoria) when German values were appreciated at court. BTW John of Bohemia (John the Blind) did anything but "serve". And there is no proof whatsoever that "Ich dien" was part of his badge or coat of arms. (In his coat of arms was the red lion of Luxembourg - not a especially serving beast...)

I don't think George III was any more so,certainly not on this side of the atlantic.

mm - you have convinced me; i shall remove 'ich
dien' from my knowlege base.

Die richtige Schreibweise ist:

HON Y SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE

"Shame to him who evil thinks."


Below is the motto of the Sovereign

"DIEU ET MON DROIT"
"God and My Right"

The function of the Royal Coat of Arms is to identify the person who is Head of State. In respect of the United Kingdom, the royal arms are borne only by the Sovereign.

http://www.arte.tv/de/1000946,CmC=1000968.html
... An der berühmten Hamburger Reeperbahn, der Vergnügungsmeile nicht weit vom Hafen, liegt das große, bekannte Café Keese. Auf dessen Leuchtreklame steht geschrieben: "HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE". Honi mit einem n - darüber entrüsten sich französische Touristen, die schließlich wissen, dass man honni mit zwei n schreibt. Die Inschrift birgt jedoch keinen Rechtschreibfehler! Sie erinnert uns vielmehr daran, dass honni sich im vierzehnten Jahrhundert, aus dem dieses berühmte Zitat nämlich stammt, mit nur einem n schrieb. ...