The Mother Of War

In the past, the Arabs would call their flags in battle 'أمل حرب' - 'the mother of war.' They would say: "What is a spear without a flag?" In other words, the flag gave them identity and strength in battle.

This links beautifully to a mother. For without a presence of a mother in your life, you feel like you have no identity. Just like they would think a spear was nothing without a flag, our lives would be empty without a mother. 

And this is just one connotation of the word mother, there are more than 20 plus which link mother to other things and objects, giving us a whole picture of her status, role and respect in Islam. May Allah preserve our dear Ummi's. :)