National personification

A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. In the first personifications in the Western World, warrior deities or figures symbolizing wisdom were used (for example the goddess Athena in ancient Greece), to indicate the strength and power of the nation. Some personifications in the Western world often took the Latin name of the ancient Roman province. Examples of this type include Britannia, Germania, Hibernia, Hispania, Helvetia and Polonia.

Britannia arm-in-arm with Uncle Sam symbolizes the British-American alliance in World War I. The two animals, the Bald eagle and the Barbary lion, are also national personifications of the two countries.

Examples of personifications of the Goddess of Liberty include Marianne, the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World), and many examples of United States coinage. Another ancient model was Roma, a female deity who personified the city of Rome and his dominion over the territories of the Roman Empire. Roma was probably favoured by Rome's high-status Imperial representatives abroad, rather than the Roman populace at large. In Rome, the Emperor Hadrian built and dedicated a gigantic temple to her as Roma Aeterna ("Eternal Rome"), and to Venus Felix, ("Venus the Bringer of Good Fortune"), emphasising the sacred, universal and eternal nature of the empire. Examples of representations of the everyman or citizenry in addition to the nation itself are Deutscher Michel, John Bull and Uncle Sam.

Italia turrita, the allegorical personification of Italy, appears as of a young woman with her head surrounded by a mural crown completed by towers (hence turrita or "with towers" in Italian). It is often accompanied by the Stella d'Italia ('Star of Italy'), which is the oldest national symbol of Italy, since it dates back to the Graeco-Roman tradition, from which the so-called Italia turrita e stellata ('turreted and starry Italy'), and by other additional attributes, the most common of which is the cornucopia. The allegorical representation with the towers, which draws its origins from ancient Rome, is typical of Italian civic heraldry, so much so that the mural crown is also the symbol of the cities of Italy. The origin of the turreted woman is linked to the figure of Cybele, a deity of fertility of Anatolian origin, in whose representations she wears a wall crown.

Gallery

• Iudaea Capta, "Judaea Taken", commemorative coin issued by the Roman emperor Vespasian (left) after the Jewish War
• An early example of national personification in a gospel book dated 990: Sclavinia, Germania, Gallia, and Roma, bringing offerings to Emperor Otto III.
• The allegorical personification of Italy in a painting by Philipp Veit, which was realized between 1834 and 1836
• In this Allegory depicting the 1576 Pacification of Ghent by Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne, the seated women represent a short-lived unity among the embattled provinces of what would become the present-day Belgium and Netherlands.
• 1909 cartoon in Puck shows (clockwise) US, Germany, Britain, France and Japan engaged in naval race in a "no limit" game.
• Columbia depicted in an American Committee for Relief in the Near East poster defending an Armenian woman beneath her flag
• The Liberty of Oudiné in memory of the Argentine centenary of the May Revolution (1810-1910)
• Tomb of the Italian Unknown Soldier, under the statue of goddess Roma, at Altare della Patria, Rome. Above it can be seen the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, the first king of a unified Italy
• The winged Lion of Saint Mark at the Scuola Grande di San Marco, Venice. The open book holds the legend PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEVS (lit. 'Peace unto you, Mark, my Evangelist')
• The Capitoline Wolf is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

Personifications by country or territory

Location	Image	Personification	Animal used for the same purpose
Albania		Mother Albania	Double-headed eagle
Americas		Personification of the Americas	American alligator
Argentina		Allegory of the Republic, Gaucho
Armenia		Mother Armenia We Are Our Mountains (Artsakh)
Australia		Miss Australia,Little Boy from Manly	Boxing kangaroo
Austria		Austria Tyrolia (Tyrol)	Double-headed eagle
Bangladesh		Bangamata	Bengal tiger
Belgium		La Belgique, Manneken Pis	Brabantic Lion, Leo Belgicus
Bhutan			Thunder Dragon
Brazil		Native Brazilian (used by the Empire of Brazil, Kingdom of Brazil and Colonial Brazil) Efígie da República (Current) the Bandeirante (São Paulo State and Minas Gerais) the "Tropeiro" (Minas Gerais) the Candango (Brasília) the Gaúcho (Rio Grande do Sul) the Cangaceiro (Northeastern Brazil)	Wyvern (used by the Empire of Brazil) Rufous-bellied Thrush (Official Current) Jaguar (Unofficial current) Jabiru (Pantanal) Harpy Eagle (Parana State)
Brunei		Awang Budiman
Bulgaria		Mother Bulgaria	Double-headed eagle
Cambodia		Preah Thong and Neang Neak
Canada		Mountie,Johnny Canuck,Canada Bereft (Vimy Memorial). Le Vieux de '37 (Quebec) Inuit (Nunavut) Canada was often personified as a young woman in 19th and early 20th century editorial cartoons, called simply "Canada", "Miss Canada", or sometimes "Mother Canada".	Canadian beaver Snowy owl (Quebec) Qimmiq (Nunavut)
Chile		Huaso, Roto, Señora Juanita, Angel of Liberty Moai (Rapa Nui)	Condorito
China			Chinese dragon, Panda, hare Snow Lion (Tibet)
Colombia		Juan Valdez
Croatia		Mother Croatia	Dalmatian
Cuba		La República	Tocororo
Cyprus		Liberty	Cypriot Mouflon
Czechia		Čechie, Czech Vašek, Honza, Svejk	Czech lion
Denmark		Holger Danske, Mother Denmark	Mute swan
Dominican Republic		Conchoprimo
Egypt		Mother of the World	Sphinx
El Salvador		Salvador del Mundo	Torogoz
Estonia		Kalevipoeg
Europe		Europa or Europa regina
Finland		Finnish Maiden	Finnish lion
France		Marianne	Gallic rooster
Georgia		Mother of Kartvel
Germany		Germania, Deutscher Michel Bavaria (Bavaria) Berolina (Berlin) Brema (Bremen) Brunonia (Brunswick Land) Franconia (Franconia) Francofurtia (Frankfurt) Hammonia (Hamburg) Lubeca (Lübeck) Borussia (Prussia) Palatia (Rhineland-Palatinate) Saxonia (Saxony) Vimaria (Weimar) Württembergia (Württemberg)	Reichsadler, Bundesadler, Berliner Bär (Berlin), Bavarian Lion (Bavaria), Marcher Eagle (Brandenburg), Prussian Eagle (Prussia)
Greece		Hellas Athena (Athens)
Greenland			Polar bear
Haiti		Ezili Dantor, Le Marron Inconnu, Katrin
Haudenosaunee		Hiawatha
Hungary		The Lady of Hungaria Prince Csaba (Székely Land)	Turul
Iceland		The Lady of the Mountains	Gyrfalcon
India		Bharat Mata Kangleipak Ima (Manipur)	Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian Elephant, Indian peafowl Pākhangbā (Manipur)
Indonesia		Ibu Pertiwi	Garuda Pancasila
Iran,  Afghanistan and  Tajikistan		Rostam	Lion and sun
Ireland		Ériu, Banba, Fódla, Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Hibernia, The Old Woman of Beare	Irish Hare
Israel		Srulik	Lion of Judah
Italy		Italia turrita Roma (Rome)	Italian wolf Aquila, Capitoline Wolf (Rome) Lion of Saint Mark (Venice)
Japan		Yamato-hime	Green Pheasant
Kazakhstan		Altin Adam	Tulpar
Korea ( North Korea and  South Korea - despite mutual enmity, both states lay claim to the same historical heritage)			Korean Tiger, Chollima
Kyrgyzstan		Manas	Siberian ibex
Latvia		Latvian Maiden, Liberty
Lebanon		Abu Abed
Lithuania		Vytis	White Stallion
Low Lands or Benelux			Leo Belgicus
Malaysia		Hang Tuah	Malayan tiger
Malta		Melita	Dolphin
Mexico		Mexican Motherland, La China Poblana	Golden eagle
Mongolia		Genghis Khan	Saker falcon
Montenegro		Fairy of Lovćen, Mother Montenegro	Double-headed eagle
Morocco			Barbary lion
Netherlands		Dutch Maiden Dutch sailor (Holland)	Dutch Republic Lion, Leo Belgicus
Nepal		Gurkha, Sherpa	Yeti
New Zealand		Zealandia Southern man (South Island)	Kiwi
Nicaragua		El Güegüense	Motmot
North Macedonia		Mother Macedonia	Lioness
Norway		Mother Norway, Ola & Kari Nordmann, Nór
Palestine		Handala
Panama		Mother of Panama	Jaguar
Peru		Peruvian Motherland, El Perú Libre	Vicuña
Philippines		La Madre Filipinas, Juan dela Cruz	Philippine Carabao
Poland		Polonia	White eagle
Portugal		Zé Povinho, Efígie da República, Guardian Angel of Portugal	Rooster of Barcelos
Rhodesia		Cecil Rhodes	Sable antelope, Zimbabwe Bird
Romania		România	Lynx
Russia		Mother Russia, General Winter Mother Buryatia (Buryatia)	Russian bear
San Marino		Liberty, Saint Marinus
Serbia		Mother Serbia, Kosovo Maiden	Serbian eagle
Singapore			Merlion
Slovakia		Jánošík
Slovenia		Kralj Matjaž
South Africa		The Lady of Good Hope Boer woman (Orange Free State) Voortrekker (Transvaal, obsolete)	Springbok Lion (Transvaal)
Spain		Hispania Breogán (Galicia)	Hispanic Lion, Spanish Fighting Bull
Sri Lanka		Sri Lanka Matha (Mother Sri Lanka)	Lion
Suriname		Mama Sranan (Mother Suriname), a 1965 sculpture by Jozeph Klas in the center of Paramaribo, of a mother figure holding five children representing Suriname's ethnic groups in her arms.
Sweden		Mother Svea (Moder Svea)
Switzerland		Helvetia Basilea (Basel) Berna (Bern) Geneva (Geneva) Tigurina Virgo (Zürich) Lucerna (Lucerne)	Cow
Taiwan			Formosan black bear
Thailand		Siam Devadhiraj	White elephant
Turkey		Ana Vatan (Turkish Motherland) Sick man of Europe (Ottoman Empire)	Wolf
Turkmenistan		Oghuz Khagan	Akhal-Teke
Ukraine		Cossack Mamay, Mother Ukraine, Berehynia	Ruthenian Lion
United Kingdom		Britannia John Bull (England) Scota (Scotland) Dame Wales (Wales)	Bulldog The Lion and the Unicorn (England and Scotland) Welsh dragon (Wales) Manx cat (Mann)
United States		Columbia, Lady Liberty The Minuteman (American Revolution) Uncle Sam (federal government) Brother Jonathan (New England) Kamehameha (Hawaii) The Guardian (Oklahoma) The Lady of the Alamo (Texas, obsolete) Billy Yank (The North, obsolete) Johnny Reb (The South, obsolete)	Bald Eagle, American Buffalo, Timber rattlesnake (American Revolution)
Uruguay		Efigie de la República
Uzbekistan		Timur	Snow Leopard
Venezuela		Juan Bimba (obsolete)
Vietnam		Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ	Vietnamese Dragon, Lạc Bird

See also

• Afghanis-tan, a manga originally published as a webcomic about Central Asia with personified countries.
• Polandball, a contemporary form of national personification in which countries are drawn by Internet users as stereotypic balls and shared as comics on online communities.
• Hetalia, a manga and anime about personified countries interacting.
• Mural crown
• National animal, often personifies a nation in cartoons.
• National emblem, for other metaphors for nations.
• National god, a deity that embodies a nation.
• National patron saint, a Saint that is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation.

References

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Further reading

• Lionel Gossman. "Making of a Romantic Icon: The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbeck's 'Italia und Germania.'" American Philosophical Society, 2007. ISBN 0-87169-975-3. [1]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Personifications of nations.

• A scholarly case study of the evolution of Deutscher Michel
• Kirsten Stirling: "The Image of the Nation as a Woman in Twentieth Century Scottish Literature"