regina regit colorem

Latin

Etymology

Literally, “The Queen rules [her own] colour”, or more loosely translated as “the Queen takes her own colour”. From the fact that, in chess, the white Queen always starts the game on the white file d1, and black Queen starts on the black file d8.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /reːˈɡiː.na ˈre.ɡit koˈloː.rem/, [reːˈɡiːnä ˈrɛɡɪt̪ kɔˈɫ̪oːrɛ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /reˈd͡ʒi.na ˈre.d͡ʒit koˈlo.rem/, [reˈd͡ʒiːnä ˈrɛːd͡ʒit̪ koˈlɔːrem]

Phrase

rēgīna regit colōrem

1. (chess) the Queen in chess, always starts on the colour of its own.