Mottos are sometimes the easiest way to identify an unknown crest since they are easily alphabetized. Below is a large listing of Scottish mottos together with their translation and the Clan that uses that motto. Some Clans use the same motto but have a different crest. There are four languages that mottos are normally written in. These are; Old or heraldic French. This is because heraldry started in France and therefore the language used to describe crests and Coat of Arms was French. All Coats of Arms are described in the French language. The second language is Latin. This was the language of the church and scholars. The third was English. The final language used for Scottish mottos was the Gaelic language, the language of the people but is fairly rare.