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'Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno' is a Latin phrase that means "''One for all, all for one''" in English. It is known as being the motto of Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers and is also the traditional motto of Switzerland.

Contents

Unofficial motto of Switzerland

Other uses

References

See also

Unofficial motto of Switzerland

Switzerland has no ''official'' motto defined in its constitution or legislative documents.^[1] The phrase, in its German ("''Einer für alle, alle für einen''"), French ("''un pour tous, tous pour un''") and Italian ("''Uno per tutti, tutti per uno''") versions, came into widespread use in the 19th century. After autumn storms had caused widespread inundations in the Alps in late September and early October 1868, the officials launched an aid campaign under that slogan,^[2] deliberately using it to evoke a sense of duty and solidarity and national unity in the population of the young nation—Switzerland had become a federal state only 20 years earlier, and the last civil war among the cantons, the ''Sonderbundskrieg'', had been in 1847. Newspaper ads using the motto calling for donations were run in all parts of the country.^[3] The phrase was increasingly associated with the founding myths of Switzerland, which often also have solidarity as a central theme, to such a degree that ''"Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno"'' was even written in the cupola of the Federal Palace of Switzerland in 1902.^[4] It has ever since been considered the motto of the country, although nowadays it is widely known only among the French-speaking population. Politicians of all parties and regions acknowledge it as the motto of Switzerland.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Other uses

The Latin phrase is also used as a motto by several ''Studentenverbindungen'' in Europe.
The motto also is featured in the 1998 movie ''The Truman Show'', where it is inscribed on the double archway in the town center of "Seahaven".^[10]

References

1. Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland La fraternité (pdf), June 2003, p. 2 . "''The traditional motto "one for all, all for one" has no constitutional or legal foundation.''" URL last accessed January 18 2006.
2. Pfister, Ch.: ''Die Geburt der Schweiz aus der Katastrophe (pdf)'', ''Tages-Anzeiger'', January 18 2005. . URL last accessed January 23 2006.
3. Summermatter, S.: ''Zoll der Sympathie—Die Bewältigung der Überschwemmungen von 1868 mit Hilfe der Eidgenössischen Spendensammlung (pdf)'', in Pfister, Ch.; Summermatter, S. (eds.): ''Katastrophen und ihre Bewältigung. Perspektiven und Positionen.'', Verlag Paul Haupt, Berne 2004. ISBN 3-258-06758-9. . URL last accessed January 23 2006.
4. The Federal Assembly - The Swiss Parliament: Architecture, on the official website of the Swiss Parliament. URL last accessed January 18 2006.
5. Ruth Dreifuss, President of the Swiss Confederation. Swiss National Day Address, 1 August 1999. Available in German, French and Italian. URLs last accessed January 18 2006
6. Yves Christen, speaker of the National Council. [1]. 18 March 2003. URL last accessed January 18 2006.
7. Max Binder, speaker of the National Council. [2]. 1 August 2004. URL last accessed January 18 2006.
8. Thérèse Meyer, speaker of the National Council. [3] 24 March 2005. URL last accessed 23 January 2006.
9. Samuel Schmid, President of the Swiss Confederation. [4] 23 September 2005. URL last accessed 23 January 2006.
10. IMDb trivia page for ''The Truman Show''. URL last accessed January 19 2006.

See also

★ One for all, and all for one

★ ''E pluribus unum''