Hendiatris ( / h ɛ n ˈ d aɪ . ə t r ɪ s / hen- DY -ət-riss ; from Ancient Greek ἓν διὰ τρία ( hèn dià tría ) ' one through three ' ) is a type of speech used to highlight an idea. It uses three words to describe one main thought. Examples include "sun, sea and sand" and "wine, women and song."

A tripartite motto is the common English name for a motto, slogan, or advertising phrase that follows the pattern of a hendiatris. Well-known examples include the phrase "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" from the United States Declaration of Independence, Jesus Christ's "the way, the truth, and the life," Julius Caesar's "Veni, vidi, vici" (examples of a tricolon), the French Republic's motto: "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité," and the phrase "peace, order and good government," which is used as a guiding principle in the parliaments of the Commonwealth of Nations.

In the ancient and classical world

In teaching about speaking, repeated groups of three words were a common feature in the style of Cicero, a famous Roman speaker. This can be seen in his first speech against Catiline, where he asked three questions: "Until when will you abuse our patience, Catiline? For how long will your madness mock us? To what end will your boldness continue?"

In ancient Greece and Rome, ideas like freedom and fairness were connected to religious beliefs, similar to the concept of a group of three gods. The earliest three-part mottos listed the names of goddesses. In late Greece, these were Eunomia (Good Order), Dike (Justice), and Eirene (Peace). The Romans called these goddesses the Horae. Other Roman goddesses included Concordia (Harmony), Salus (Health), and Pax (Peace), who were known as the Fortunae.

Since the Renaissance and the Enlightenment

From the 18th century, the three-part motto was mainly used for political purposes. John Locke's idea of Life, Liberty, and Property was changed by Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the United States Declaration of Independence. Jefferson replaced "Property" with "the pursuit of happiness," which became the American version of the French motto mentioned earlier.

The first Carlist motto was "God, Country, King."

Tsar Nicholas I of Russia often expressed his main beliefs through the three-part motto "Orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality" (in Russian: правосла́вие, самодержа́вие, наро́дность).

The French policy "Un Roi, une Loi, une Foi" (meaning "One King, One Law, One Faith") showed the political and religious goals of absolute monarchy in early modern France, especially during the rule of Louis XIV. This policy aimed to create a strong central government, uniform laws, and religious unity under Catholicism.

The University of North Carolina's Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies also use three-part mottos. The Philanthropic Society's motto is "Virtus, Libertas, et Scientia" ("Virtue, Liberty, and Knowledge"). The Joint Senate motto is "Ad Virtutem, Libertatem, Scientiamque" ("Toward Virtue, Liberty, and Knowledge").

Modern usages

A Canadian usage is "Peace, order and good government," first appeared in the 1867 Constitution of Canada. It has remained, to this day, an essential part of the Canadian identity.

"Il nous faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace!" translates to "We must be bold, and again bold, and forever bold!" This quote is from Georges Danton.

Lenin and the Bolsheviks adopted a three-part motto for the Russian Revolution: "мир, земля, и хлеб" (mir, zemlya, i khleb), which means "Peace, Land, and Bread."

During the New Deal, the projects of Franklin Delano Roosevelt were described as Relief, Recovery, and Reform.

Fascist parties used similar three-part mottos. For example, Fascist Italy used "Credere! Obbedire! Combattere!" which means "Believe! Obey! Fight!" The Nazi motto was "Ein Volk! Ein Reich! Ein Führer!" translating to "One people! One state! One leader!"

During the German occupation of France, the Vichy regime replaced the motto of the Republic with "Travail, Famille, Patrie" (Work, Family, Fatherland).

Spain's motto is "Una, Grande y Libre" (Unitary, Great, and Free).

The modern motto of Germany, "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (Unity and Justice and Freedom), is printed on the sides of German two-euro coins, as it was on Deutsche Mark coins.

The main slogan of the Greek junta was "Πατρίς, Θρησκεία, Οικογένεια" (Patris Thriskia Oikogeneia), which means "Fatherland, Faith, Family."

Given by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, the national motto is "Faith, Unity, Discipline" (Urdu: ایمان، اتحاد، نظم, romanized: Īmān, Ittiḥād, Naẓm).

In George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the totalitarian regime used the slogan "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength" to tell people in Oceania to fear any chance of acting on their own.

The motto of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, a Japanese puppet regime, was "Peace, Anti-Communism, National Construction."

The 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal aimed at three immediate goals: "Descolonização, Democratização, Desenvolvimento" (Decolonization, Democratization, Development).

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has an initialistic motto: "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity," while the United States Military Academy at West Point has "Duty, Honor, Country." This concept has been extended to the list of core values of the U.S. armed services, such as the Navy's "Honor, Courage, Commitment" and the Coast Guard's "Honor, Respect, Devotion to Duty."

The University of Notre Dame has adopted "God, Country, Notre Dame" as an informal motto. The phrase first appeared on the First World War memorial located on the east portico of the basilica.

The Royal Military College of Canada has followed the three-part motto "Truth, Duty, Valour" since the founding of the College in 1876. This motto was expanded into the Canadian Forces' core values.

Triple mottos often come from speeches. For example, Abraham Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, for the people" from his Gettysburg Address and George Wallace's "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" from his 1963 Inaugural Address.

These mottos are common throughout Western civilization and also appear in other cultures. In Japan, during their boom years, illegal immigrants performed the work that