Honi soit qui mal y pense is the motto of the English chivalric Order of the Garter. Its literal translation from Old French is “Shame be to him who thinks evil of it”, or more strictly: “Let he who thinks ill there be shamed.”
This statement supposedly originated when King Edward III was dancing with his first cousin and daughter-in-law, Joan of Kent. Her garter slipped down to her ankle, causing those around her to snicker at her humiliation. In an act of chivalry Edward placed the garter around his own leg, saying “Honi soit qui mal y pense”, and the phrase later became the motto of the Order.
