Dominus illuminatio mea is the motto

Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...

 of the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 and the opening words of Psalm 27, meaning The Lord is my light. It has been in use at least since the second half of the sixteenth century, and it appears on the University's arms

Arms of the University of Oxford

The Arms of the University of Oxford show an open book with the inscription 'Dominus illuminatio mea' , surrounded by three golden crowns.A blazon of this would be:...

. It is also used by St Leo's College, University of Queensland.

An article by Ivan Illich may help to better understand the possible role of this mention to God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 on ancient university arms, at the very moment that scientists were progressively replacing the concept of vision as a gaze radiating from the pupil by the retinal perception of an image formed by reflected sunlight:

Other uses

Dominus illuminatio mea is also one of the two mottos of Robert College

Robert College

Robert College of Istanbul , is one of the most selective independent private high schools in Turkey. Robert College is a co-educational, boarding school with a wooded campus on the European side of Istanbul between the two bridges on the Bosphorus, with the Arnavutköy district to the east, and...

 of Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, and it appears on the arms of Robert College Alumni Association since 1957 next to Veritas.

It is also the motto of St Leo's College, an on-campus college of the University of Queensland

University of Queensland

The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...

.

Additionally, it is the motto of Cair Paravel-Latin School

Cair Paravel-Latin School

Cair Paravel Latin School is a coeducational, non-profit, interdenominational Christian private school located in Topeka, Kansas. The school was founded in 1980...

, a private college-preparatory school in Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas

Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

, USA. and Nazareth Adcademy in Rochester New York
Furthermore, it is the motto of Hallfield Independent School in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, UK.

It is also the motto of the Duke of Königsblau.