Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn or Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin (Luxembourgish for "We want to remain what we are" - the second version being in the old spelling) is the national motto of Luxembourg.[1] It refers to the ambition of the Luxembourgish people to remain separate from, and independent of, those neighbouring countries around it that have traditionally tried to dominate it politically, economically as well as militarily and, as final goal, to annex it: Belgium, France, and Germany (Prussia before the first German unification of 1870–71).