Victory or death

"Victory or death" and its equivalents, is used as a motto or battle cry.

  • A boxer Agathos Daimon died in ancient Olympia aged 35, having promised Zeus ἢ στέφος ἢ θάνατον ("victory or death").[1]
  • The Bedford Flag, possibly the oldest extant battle flag of the American Revolution, bears the motto Vincere aut mori ("To conquer or die")
  • Before Washington's crossing of the Delaware River at the Battle of Trenton in 1776, "Victory" was the password and "Or Death" was the response.
  • The Maniots used "Victory or Death" as their motto when they joined the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire in 1821.
  • The letter written by commander William Barret Travis "To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World" during the Battle of the Alamo (1836), ends with "Victory or Death!".
  • Adolf Hitler gave the order "Victory or Death" twice:
  • The 32nd Armor Regiment of the United States Army has the motto "Victory or Death" .
    • The 1960 film G.I. Blues features the regimental emblem as Elvis Presley had served with them in 1958–60.
    • The 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off features a black beret bearing the regiment's emblem.
    • Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses has the regiment's emblem and motto tattooed on his left arm.
  • The 442 Field Artillery Battalion of the US Army have the motto Victoria laeta aut mors ("Glorious victory or death")
  • The Chilean Navy has the motto Vencer o Morir ("Conquer or Die").
  • It was used as a battle cry in medieval Muslim battles and conquests.

It is the name of a gun battery on the main gun deck of the U.S.S. Constitution.

Heraldic motto

It is given as the translation of the heraldic motto of several Irish clans and Scottish clans :

  • Clan Gallagher - Buaidh nó Bás ("Victory or death")
  • Clan MacDougallBuaidh no bas ("Victory or death")
  • Clan MacNeilBuaidh no bas ("Victory or death")
  • Clan Macdowall – Vincere vel mori ("To conquer or die")
  • Clan Maclaine of LochbuieVincere vel mori ("To conquer or die")
  • Clan McCabeVincere vel mori ("To conquer or die")
  • Irish clan Murphy of Wexford and Cork uses Vincere vel mori ("To conquer or die")

In fiction

gollark: Marmite good peanut butter bad.
gollark: No, I mean C programs are generally "simple" in the Golang sense, except less so.
gollark: And you have to deal with allocating apiomemory and whatnot, passing pointer/length everywhere for arrays/slices, etc.
gollark: > less code =/= more simpleIt's Golang-like "simple", where you have to be overly explicit.
gollark: It's actually unparseable.

See also

References

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