One more royal, or rather princely badge remains to be mentioned,--The FEATHERS, PRINCE OF WALES’ FEATHERS, occasionally varied to the PRINCE OF WALES’ ARMS. Ostrich feathers were from a very early period among the devices of our kings and princes. King Stephen, for instance, according to Guillim, bore a plume of ostrich feathers with the motto:--VI NULLA INVERTITUR ORDO, _No force alters their fashion_, meaning that no wind can ruffle a feather into lasting disorder. Not only the Black Prince, but also Edward III., himself and his sons, bore ostrich feathers as their cognizances, each with some distinction in colour or metal. The badge originally took the form of a single feather. John Ardern, physician to the Black Prince, who is the first to mention the derivation of the feathers from the King of Bohemia, says:-- “Et nota quod _talem pennam albam_ portabat Edwardus primogenitus filius Edwardi regis super crestam suam, et _illam pennam_ conquisivit de rege Boemiæ, quem interfecit apud Cresse in Francia, et sic assumpsit sibi _illam pennam_ quæ dicitur _ostrich feather_, quam prius dictus rex nobilissimus portabat super crestam.”[152] The feather, also, is drawn in the margin of the MS. as single, and in that shape, too, it is represented on the Black Prince’s tomb. This feather, however, appears only to have been an ornament on the helmet of King John of Bohemia. A contemporary Flemish poem, quoted by Baron van Reiffenberg, thus describes his heraldic crest:-- “Twee ghiervogelen daer aen geleyt Die al vol bespringelt zyn Met Linden bladeren gult fyn, Deze is, as ik merken kan Van Bohemen Koninck Jan.”[153] And in that shape it also occurs on the King’s seal. More difficulties are offered by the motto: HOU MOET ICH DIEN, for so it is in full,--the Black Prince himself wrote it after this fashion in a letter dated April 25, 1370. The last two words in German mean “I serve,” but no explanation is given of the remainder, “Hou moet.” Since no mottos in two languages occur, we must look for a language which can account for both parts of the motto; and thus in Flemish we find these words to mean, “Keep courage, I serve,” or, in less concise language, “Keep courage, I serve with you, I am your companion in arms;” and though no parentage has as yet been found for this motto, it may not improbably have been derived from the Black Prince’s maternal family, since his mother, Queen Philippa of Hainault, was a Flemish princess. Amongst the many shops which took the feathers for their sign we find the following noted in an advertisement:--