Ex Terra Lucem, the motto of St Helens, played a part in the Opening Ceremony of London 2012, it has been revealed.

Frank Cottrell Boyce, the St Helens born children's author, was screenwriter for the breathtaking event.

In an article for today's Observer newspaper he confirmed the phrase – which translates to ‘out of the earth came light’ - was used for some of the epic scenes masterminded by the celebrated filmmaker Danny Boyle, the ceremony’s artistic director.

Cottrell Boyce, who grew up in Rainhill, attending St Bartholemews Primary School and West Park secondary school, wrote: “On a trip to the House of Commons Danny was enthralled by the memorial plaque to the suffragette Emily Wilding Davison (it's on the back of the broom cupboard door where she once hid).

“The sash that she was trying to drape around the king's horse when she died ended up in the show.

“As did, bizarrely, the town motto of St Helens, where I was educated (it's "Ex Terra Lucem" – "out of the ground comes light").”

The Times newspaper on Saturday also listed the motto, which is linked to the town's coal mining heritage, as one of seven cultural references featured within the blistering spectacle conjured by Boyle's team.

Such news has already been met with pride by St Helens people.

The Latin motto featured on St Helens’ coat of arms and its influence on the town has had a renaissance in recent years.

The phrase was used as a source of inspiration by a group of miners who planned the Dream public artwork in Sutton Manor.

And it also features prominently on St Helens rugby league club's £30m stadium, Langtree Park, which opened earlier this year after chairman Eamonn McManus placed emphasis on making the town's rich history a central part of their modern home.

Cottrell Boyce, meanwhile, was also tasked with writing what may go down as the most famous line of the ceremony.

In a short film recorded at Buckingham Palace and screened to the millions watching the Games' opening on Friday night, James Bond (played by the actor Daniel Craig) was seen visiting the Queen.

It was Cottrell Boyce's task of writing the line: “Her Majesty...Good evening, Mr Bond.”

In an interview with The Times, the author explained how set designer Mark Tildesley had come up with the idea.

Cottrell Boyce said: “We said to the Palace: ‘We can cut this quite cleverly or use a body double or whatever. But they said ‘No, she really wants to do it. It’s the first time she’s ever acted.’ So I had to write the script.

“I had to find out whether you put ‘The Queen’ or ‘Her Majesty’.”

The author, who has known Boyle since the filmmaker turned his book Millions into a film in 2004, told The Times the creative team had sought to inject qualities such as “humour, eccentricity and anarchy” into the ceremony.