Deus vult

Deus vult (Latin for 'God wills it') is a Christian motto historically tied to ideas of divine providence and individual interpretation of God's will. It was first chanted by Catholics during the First Crusade in 1096 as a rallying cry, most likely under the form Deus le veult or Deus lo vult, as reported by the Gesta Francorum (c. 1100) and the Historia Belli Sacri (c. 1130).
In modern times, the Latin motto has different meanings depending on the context. While it has been associated with nationalist ideologies in modern contexts, others interpret it as a historical expression of faith and dedication to divine purpose. It has been used as a metaphor referring to "God's will", by Christians throughout history, such as the Puritans, or as a motto by chivalric orders such as the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. In the 21st century, Christian nationalist movements, as well as Christian right and far-right groups, have adopted the motto as a catchphrase. Medievalist scholars have criticized this use as harmful and historically inaccurate.
The phrase appears in another form in the Vulgate translation of 2 Samuel 14:14 from the Bible: nec vult Deus perire animam ("God does not want any soul to perish").
The variants Deus le volt and Deus lo vult, incorrect in Classical Latin, are forms influenced by Romance languages. According to Heinrich Hagenmeyer, the personal pronoun 'le' (or 'lo') was very likely part of the original motto as shouted during the First Crusade at Amalfi, since both the authors of the Gesta Francorum and the Historia Belli Sacri report it. Later variants include the Old French Dieux el volt and the Classical Latin Deus id vult ("God wills it") or Deus hoc vult ("God wills this").
The battle cry of the First Crusade is first reported in the Gesta Francorum, a chronicle written c. 1100 by an anonymous author associated with Bohemond I of Antioch shortly after the successful campaign. According to this account, while the Princes' Crusade were gathered in Amalfi in the late summer of 1096, a large number of armed crusaders bearing the sign of the cross on their right shoulders or on their backs cried in unison "Deus le volt, Deus le volt, Deus le volt". Medieval historian Guibert de Nogent mentions that "Deus le volt" has been retained by the pilgrims to the detriment of other cries.
The Historia belli sacri, written later c. 1131, also cites the battle cry. It is again mentioned in the context of the capture of Antioch on 3 June 1098. The anonymous author of the Gesta was himself among the soldiers capturing the wall towers, and recounts that "seeing that they were already in the towers, they began to shout Deus le volt with glad voices; so indeed did we shout".
Robert the Monk, who re-wrote the Gesta Francorum c. 1120, added an account of the speech of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095, of which he was an eyewitness. The speech climaxes in Urban's call for orthodoxy, reform, and submission to the Church. Robert records that the pope asked Western Christians, poor and rich, to come to the aid of the Greeks in the East:
Robert also reports that the cry of Deus lo vult was at first shouted in jest by the soldiers of Bohemond during their combat exercises, and later turned into an actual battle cry, which Bohemond interpreted as a divine sign.
Tyerman, writing in 2006, suggests that the cheering at Urban's speech was "probably led by a papal claque".
Deus lo vult is the motto of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a Roman Catholic order of chivalry (restored 1824).
Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840–1914), a Protestant Episcopalian, used the expression for his argument of the dominion of Christ as "essentially imperial" and that Christianity and warfare had a great deal in common: "'Deus vult!' say I. It was the cry of the Crusaders and of the Puritans and I doubt if man ever uttered a nobler [one]."
When Adolf Hitler staged the Munich Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923, Houston Stewart Chamberlain wrote an essay for the Völkischer Beobachter entitled "God Wills It!" calling on all Germans who love Germany to join the putsch.
The 1st CCNN Division "Dio lo Vuole" ("God wills it") was one of the three Italian Blackshirts Divisions sent to Spain in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War to make up the "Corpo Truppe Volontarie" (Corps of Volunteer Troops), or CTV.
In 1947, Canadian prelate George Flahiff used the expression Deus Non Vult as the title of an examination of the gradual loss of enthusiasm for the crusades at the end of the 12th century, specifically of the early criticism of the crusades by Ralph Niger, writing in 1189.
Deus vult has been adopted as a slogan by a variety of Christian right and Christian nationalist groups, as well as alt-right and white supremacist groups. This usage was disseminated widely online, through hashtags and internet memes. Crusader memes (such as an image of a Knight Templar accompanied by the caption "I'll see your jihad and raise you one crusade") are popular on far-right internet pages. It is one of several pieces of Crusader imagery used by groups characterized in The Washington Post as far-right Christian nationalists and dominionists. One perspective is that racist movements co-opt the slogans and iconography of the European medieval period, to evoke a fantasy of a "pure" white European heritage, a nostalgic view that is historically inaccurate, and has been denounced by medievalist scholars as a gross distortion of history.
The "Deus vult" slogan has been used by perpetrators of right-wing terrorism; it was repeatedly used by the perpetrator of the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting and was one of the tattoos on the body of the perpetrator of the 2023 Allen, Texas outlet mall shooting. Deus Vult was among the slogans and symbols used during the violent far-right riot in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
The slogan, as well as other Knights Templar imagery, has also been associated with far-right subgroups in the U.S. that merge Christian nationalism with gun culture; a Florida gun manufacturer engraved the slogan on its "Crusader" model of AR-15-style rifle. The motto is also used by Christian nationalist groups in Europe; the phrase was portrayed on large banners carried by unspecified groups characterized by The Guardian as far-right marchers in 2017 in Warsaw, Poland.
Often white supremacists will use the Jerusalem Cross in association with the term "Deus Vult". Tom Hill, president and executive director of the Center for Peace Diplomacy, said that the combination of these two symbols "when used in combination . . . are 'an invocation of the claim that crusader violence and its atrocities (including the massacre of civilians) was legitimate.'" “It is this bloody, militant intent that comes first when seeking to understand its current usage as a symbol for those pledging their allegiances in contemporary politics — and this is why it has been appropriated by the so-called ‘alt right,’” Hill said.
Pete Hegseth, a retired Major in the Army National Guard and part-time Fox News contributor who serves as the 29th United States Secretary of Defense, has the motto tattooed on his bicep.