Similarly to what happens in many other countries, the Portuguese Navy's ships also display a patriotic motto. In an age when nationalism spread all over Europe, it was King Luís (1861-1889) who was held responsible for the decision of placing a motto onboard his Royal Navy's ships, inspired by his Ministry of the Navy and of the Overseas. José da Silva Mendes Leal (1820-1886), Ministry of the Navy and of the Overseas from 1862 until 1864, signed, on March 20th, 1863, the decree which is transcribed below, thus attributing the motto to the Navy's ships:
“By order of His Majesty the King, it is declared to the inspector advisor of the Navy Yard that, considering the convenience of stimulating by all means the patriotic pride and the noble sentiment, it is deemed important the issuing of an order so as to immediately prepare and lay in the ships with a poop on the eastern beam, as well as in all other ships on the most visible position of the quarter deck, the following inscription in visible, metal letters, "A PATRIA HONRAE QUE A PATRIA VOS CONTEMPLA" (Honour the fatherland for the fatherland beholds you)
Even though all Navy ships display this motto, NRP Sagres is the only which is still in compliance with this 1863 decree, which determines its placement in the poop.
