motto what's your motto

 [ˈmɒtəʊ]

NOUN

a short sentence or phrase chosen as encapsulating the beliefs or ideals of an individual, family, or institution:

"the family motto is ‘Faithful though Unfortunate’"

SIMILAR:

maxim

saying

proverb

aphorism

adage

saw

axiom

MUSIC

a phrase which recurs throughout a musical work and has some symbolical significance:

"they were developing the use of leitmotifs or mottoes that appear throughout an opera"