For many years Marlboro Cigarettes has put Vini Vidi Vici on the Phillip Morris logo between the two horses, beneath the crown. My question is what do the three words mean and after all these years, why did they take them off? P.S.Glad to be here, My first thread on Straightdope.
I came, I saw I conquered.
Why they put this on a pack of smokes I have no idea.
It’s veni, incidentally, perfect tense of venire, to come.
That should be Veni, not Vini, but I also have no idea what it’s doing there.
Grim
Juleus Ceasar who said that, wasn’t it?
Without acutally bothering to check, I’m guessing it’s on the Philip Morris “coat of arms” rather than being specific to the brand of cigarettes themselves.
My own family coat of arms bears the motto “Que Sera Sera”, which amuses me no end.
thanks for replies, but don’t it seem strange after all these years they take it off the logo? I just noticed it was missing , dug out an old package that i’ve been saving an it was on the old pack.
Yep. In 47 b.c., after defeating Pharnaces, King of Pontus.
- Tamerlane
Yep.
Btw Jabbap, there’s a joke in you post somewhere. 
Whoops, I haven’t slept all night, 'scuse me.
Actually, I think Jabbap has a certain ring to it.
“I came, I saw, I conquered” is a rather disturbing message on a product from a company that has been accused of marketing an addictive product to young people and adults. It doesn’t seem strange at all that they’d take it off – I’d be disturbed to find it on anything.
Gyrate, a Spanish motto would be extremely rare. Almost all mottoes are in Latin. A few mottoes are in Classical Greek, but these seem to be more commonly associated with academic institutions than with families. If you got your coat of arms from a “heraldry store”, you might want to research the authenticity of the coats-of-arms such stores sell. This site includes a very scathing review of heraldry and title sales. Apparently mottoes are only official for Scots who bear a coat of arms (and arms must pass patrilineally from nobles who have been granted arms). I was disappointed to find out that stores selling coats of arms are not very legitimate – their products are more like souvenirs than legitimate heraldic articles.
Spanish? “Que sera sera” is French and means “What will be will be”.
My last GF always said, “Vini vidi VISA” after a trip to the mall.
We came. We saw. We purchased it with revolving credit.
ymmv 
It’s also perfectly valid Spanish for “what will be will be”, and a phrase commonly heard in some parts of Spain, so that’s why he mentioned Spanish family mottos.
UnuMondo
Both my French and Spanish are a bit rusty, but I think that grammatically “Que sera sera” is both correct French and Spanish and means “Whatever will be will be” in both languages, just that you’d need to put a few accents in the Spanish version (qué, serà). I could be wrong here, though.
“que será” apparently. You learn something new each day. 
French mottoes are also not uncommon
Honi soit qui mal y pense
At my university, there was a pseudo-fraternity whose unofficial motto was:
“Vidi, Vici, Veni”
Think about it. 
My family crest has the motto: “Voulez vous couchez avec moi?” and a picture of a lamp post.