Clearly, one can give lists and lists of heraldic technicalities, but even the examples already provided are sufficient to demonstrate the strength of the French element in the language of heraldry. There is one aspect of it, however, which is of a more imaginative, rather than technical, nature. It is the language of heraldic mottoes. 

French is one of the three main languages used in mottoes with English coats of arms, the other two being English and Latin. Some mottoes originated as war cries, e.g., Courage sans peur. Perhaps the most famous example in this category is the Royal motto Dieu et mon droit, which has been used by English sovereigns from Henry VI. It was probably a war cry long before his reign, as King Richard I is recorded as saying “Not we, but God and our right have vanquished France at Gisors.”  

The “cri de guerre” of the kings of France was Mon joye Saint Denis. The echoes of ancient war cries fill the battle scenes of Shakespeare’s Henry V when the French noblemen are preparing to engage into battle: 

Orleans: O brave spirit! Dauphin: Via! les eaux et la terre! Orleans: Rien puis? l’air et le feu! Dauphin: Ciel! cousin Orleans. [IV.2]

Some mottoes can be puns on the name of the bearer, e.g., Per se valens – Perceval. Others refer to a charge in the arms to which they are annexed, or to the crest above it, e.g., Soyes sage et simple – the crest being: on a wreath a serpent nowed [i.e., tied in a knot], thereon a dove. 

Most of the mottoes express a sentiment, hope or determination, e.g., Garde la foy; Toujours prest; and Apprendre et tenir. Obviously, Shakespeare’s motto Non sans droict also falls in the same category. There is more than one explanation for the origin of another well-known motto Honi soit qui mal y pense used by the supreme order of knighthood – the Order of the Garter - and sometimes displayed on the garter of dark blue ribbon in the Royal arms. According to one version derived from the romantic episode narrated by Polydore Vergil, during a festival at the court of Edward III the Countess of Salisbury dropped her garter and the king picked it up himself. Observing the significant smiles of the onlookers, he tied it round his own knee and uttered the celebrated words. Another theory belongs to Camden, the antiquary, who says that the order originated at the Battle of Crécy, when Edward ordered his garter to be displayed as a signal for the attack.