Fluctuat nec mergitur

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Fluctuat nec mergitur is a Latin phrase meaning "tossed by the waves, she does not sink."

This phrase is the motto of Paris, and is present in the city coat of arms depicting a ship floating on a rough sea. Both motto and city arms have their origins in the Seine River boatsman's corporation; this powerful hanse ruled the city's trade and commerce as early as the Roman era. Although this corporation through the centuries became an entity resembling more a municipal government than a trade organisation, they maintained their original arms and motto, and it is for this that the Mairie de Paris bears them still today.