Monumental DC
I’m in Washington DC today and tomorrow, and wandering round the Federal Triangle (think Whitehall with even more stern neo-classicism) I was amused by the fact that all the Government buildings seem to have self-justificatory quotations carved over the doorways - the commerce building had something about the importance of regulated trade, the Justice Department something about the glory that justice brings to the world. Even the Internal Revenue Service had a quotation from Oliver Wendell Holmes over the door: something about taxation being the price we pay for a civilised society.
I’m not sure whether it’s done in a triumphalist spirit, or to make the case for Government, but even though the bleak monumentalism of the buildings is quite late British Empire, the sentiments carved into them make for a different feel. It’s as if the relation between state and citizen is based on a deal or an arrangement, more so than in the UK Government’s communications - where the presence of the Royal crest implies a much older, much less rational relationship.
Compare also the Royal crest and the French Republic’s logo - easily the best and most consistent Governmental branding.