Codes of the Mandalorians

The Codes of mandalorians can be split into three main codes the Cannons of Honor, the Resol'nare and the Supercommando Codex that dictates the way of life for the Mandalorian people. With an unknown number of off shoots from the three main codes of conduct. However, for brevity we shall focuse on the three.

The Cannons of Honor
The Canons of Honor were composed of no fewer than four simple facets of life: Strength, Honor, Loyalty, and Death. To a Mandalorian, strength was equated with life. The strong had the right to rule and conquer the weak. If an opponent fought back then they were not seen as weak, even if they could not defeat the Mandalorians; the act of defending oneself instead of capitulation was seen as giving one both spiritual strength and honor.

To the Mandalorian, honor was very important. Honor was gained by fighting, no matter the odds or situation. Once battle was engaged, victory brought honor. And while defeat was not desirable, even fighting and losing gave honor to the defeated for at least they acted and fought. It was considered more honorable to die fighting than to survive though dishonorable means.

Equally important to honor was loyalty to one's clan. A Mandalorian was required to fight not only for his Mand'alor, but also for his aliit. If one's actions did not bring honor to his clan, then they held no place for being a member of that clan, or a Mandalorian, and became what Mandalorians called dar'manda.

Death was another important part of the code. Everyone dies. But what mattered to the Mandalorian Warrior was how a person dies. Did they pass on with Strength and Honor, or some other way?

Strength is life, for the strong have the right to rule.
Honor is life, for with no honor one may as well be dead.
Loyalty is life, for without one's clan one has no purpose.
Death is life, one should die as they have lived.

Resol'nare
"You will raise your young as Mandalorians — and defend them. You will wear our armor, and speak our language. And you will serve the clan, and rally when called. These are the Resol'nare — the Six Actions — sacred to our movement. Do them — and you may live to call yourselves Mandalorians!"
— A Mandalorian Rally Master

In addition to the Code of Honor, Mandalore Cadden Blackthorne re-incorporated the Resol'nare into the facet of the Protectors. These Six Actions comprised the core tenets of being a Mandalorian:

Wearing armor.
Speaking the language.
Defending yourself and your family.
Raising your children as Mandalorians.
Contributing to the clan's welfare.
When called upon by the Mand'alor, rallying to his cause.

As such, during Blackthorne's campaign to reunite the clans, anyone who wished to be considered Mandalorian had to abide by these guidelines and live these actions daily. Mandalorians that did not follow the Resol'nare were considered to be dar'manda — someone who was ignorant of their Mandalorian heritage. The status of dar'manda was widely feared within Mandalorian society due to the belief it meant they were soulless and had no place in the Manda, the Mandalorian afterlife.

Unlike the Mandalorian Wars, captured worlds were not forcibly inducted into Mandalorian culture, and were free to coexist with the Protectors. In instances such as this, the Mandalorians became a form of a local police force for these territories, protecting their investments from outside threats.

Young Mandalorian children were taught a rhyme to help them learn the tenets of the Resol'nare:

Ba'jur, beskar'gam,'Ara'nov, aliit,'Mando'a bal Mand'alor—'An vencuyan mhi. It is translated in Basic as:

Education and armor,'Self-defense, our tribe,'Our language, our leader—'All help us survive.

Supercommando Codex
The Supercommando Codex was a guideline for Mandalorian behavior, created by the Mandalorian soldier Jaster Mereel. A man of strong ethical principles, Mereel found that many Mandalorians of his era had become dissatisfied with the dishonorable and overly savage ways that had become prevalent among a number of the culture's warriors. Mereel chose to become a reformist, one who sought to restore honor to the clans and reinstitute the old warriors codesthat had been largely forgotten over time. To that end, Mereel revived and modernized the ancient Canons of Honor that the Mandalorian Crusaders and Neo-Crusaders had followed, creating a series of several hundred commandments governing moral Mandalorian behavior, which he entitled the Supercommando Codex. The Codex, like the Canons before it, drew heavily from the Resol'nare, the six central tenets of the Mandalorian culture. From the Codex, Mereel preached that any Mandalorians who wished to fight would no longer engage in the shameful activities of raiders and brigands. Instead, Mandalorian warriors were to conduct themselves as highly-paid soldiers and honorable mercenaries.