Montjoie

Montjoie (Old French Munjoie) is the historical battle cry supposedly used under Charlemagne and later in the medieval kingdom of France, where it was at some point, presumably in the 12th century (Louis the Fat), extended to Montjoie Saint Denis, in reference to the Oriflamme battle standard which was originally kept in the Abbey of St. Denis.

The etymology of the term is far from clear. It is first recorded in the Song of Roland (12th century). One commonly cited suggestion connects it to a term for marking stones or cairns set up on the roadside, in Late Latin known as mons Jovis, which from c. 1200 in French appears as monjoie; also connected is the nameMons Gaudii, given by medieval pilgrims to Rama, a point north-west of Jerusalem from the top of which approaching pilgrims would get their first glance of the city.

The name for the "cairns" has also been proposed as deriving from a Germanic source, mund gawi, supposedly used as a battle cry in a sense of "hold the line"; alternatively from mund galga, from mund "protect" and galga "cross, rood" (as pilgrims would often affix crucifices to these stones); yet another suggestions would derive the term from a Gaulish mant- "path" and gauda "pile of stones". A Mons Jovis or Mons Gaudii is also associated with the martyrdom of Saint Denis (now Montmartre, i.e. "mount of the martyr", but reportedly from an earlier Mons Martis rather than Mons Jovis). Other proposed etymologies include meum gaudium (mon joie), suggesting that the connection between the Carolingian oriflamme and Saint Denis is entirely secondary (Capetian).