Instead, it’s just one uncomfortable way that the game’s burgeoning community intersects with one of the internet’s most incendiary. White supremacists have taken up the symbol and its catchphrase to, unsurprisingly, attempt to connect their cause with the will of God. (We’ve contacted Ubisoft for comment and will update if we hear back.) The meme, too, is divorced from the alt-right movement. Deus Vult 'Deus Vult' is Latin for 'God wills it' and is a remnant from the Crusades. In the case of For Honor, “Deus vult” is just a phrase used by the community without any political associations. “The current surge of Deus Vult does not seem to be part of, but part of a growing hatred for islamification, proved by simply reading the comments that come with that phrase,” explained one Redditor to another asking about the phrase’s proliferation last October.

Refer to the history of the “Pepe the frog” meme for more on that.) (It’s also another example of the movement re-appropriating iconography for its purposes.

While this connection has been debated - some argue that the phrase’s popularity is only attributable to Crusader Kings - the prevalent understanding is that “Deus vult” in the alt-right context is just another code word for hate-mongering. The alt-right’s memeification of “Deus vult” is just one part of what’s seen as the group’s larger obsession with anti-Islamic discourse and medieval imagery.

Deus vult alt right