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, Lusitania, Helvetia and Polonia.
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 her 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.Eric Hobsbawm, "Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870-1914," in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge, 1983), 263-307.
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. Its most classic aspect derives from the primordial myth of the Great Mediterranean Mother.
Gallery
Personifications by country or territory
Location Image Personification Animal or plants used for the same purpose Africa Africa African animals Mother Albania Double-headed eagle Sidi hafsan (Libya) Barbary lion, Fennecs Americas Personification of the Americas American alligator Allegory of the Republic, Gaucho Hornero Mother Armenia David of Sassoun We Are Our Mountains (Artsakh) Digger Little Boy from Manly (New South Wales)
In 19th and early 20th century cartoons, Australia was sometimes personified as a young woman named 'Miss Australia'.Boxing kangaroo Austria Tyrolia (Tyrol) Double-headed eagle BangamataBengal tiger La Belgique, Manneken Pis Brabantic Lion, Leo Belgicus Pachamama Llama Efígie da República (Empire of Brazil, obsolete) Bandeirante (São Paulo) Tropeiro (Minas Gerais) Candango (Brasília) Gaúcho (Rio Grande do Sul) Cangaceiro (Nordeste)Rufous-bellied Thrush, Jaguar Wyvern (Empire of Brazil, obsolete) Jabiru (Pantanal) Harpy Eagle (Parana) Awang Budiman Mother BulgariaLion Preah Thong and Neang Neak Mountie, Johnny Canuck, Canada Bereft (Vimy Memorial). Le Vieux de '37 (Quebec)
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) Huaso, Señora Juanita Roto (contentious) Angel of Liberty (Dictatorship, obsolete) Condorito Chinese dragon, Panda, hare Snow lion (Tibet) Juan ValdezAndean condor Mother Croatia Beech marten (kuna) La República Tocororo Liberty Cypriot Mouflon Čechie, Czech Vašek, Honza, Svejk Czech lion Holger Danske, Mother Denmark Mute swan Polar bear (Greenland) Conchoprimo Egypt's Renaissance Sphinx Salvador del Mundo Torogoz Kalevipoeg Europe Europa or Europa regina Finnish Maiden Finnish lion Marianne Tiki (French Polynesia) Gallic rooster Manta ray (French Polynesia) Mother of Kartvel 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) Hellas Athena (Athens) Ezili Dantor, Le Marron Inconnu, Katrin Haudenosaunee Hiawatha Beaver The Lady of Hungaria Prince Csaba (Székely Land) Turul The Lady of the MountainsGyrfalcon Bharat Mata Banga Mata (West Bengal) Kangleipak Ima (Manipur) Tamil Thai (Tamil Nadu) Telangana Thalli (Telangana) Telugu Thalli (Andhra Pradesh) Utkala Janani (Odisha Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian Elephant, Indian peafowl Pākhangbā (Manipur) Ibu Pertiwi (Mother Prithvi) Garuda Pancasila Rostam Lion and sun Ériu, Banba, Fódla, Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Hibernia, The Old Woman of BeareO'Rourke Murphy, M. & MacKillop, J. (2006). An Irish Literature Reader: Poetry, Prose, Drama. Irish Hare Daughter of Zion, Srulik Lion of Judah Italia turrita Roma (Rome) Venezia trionfante (Venice) Italian wolf Aquila (Roman Empire) Capitoline Wolf (Rome) Lion of Saint Mark (Venice) Yamato-hime, Samurai Green Pheasant Altin Adam Tulpar Korean Tiger Manas Siberian ibex Latvian Maiden, Liberty, Lāčplēsis Cedrus Vytis, Lithuania White Stallion Low Lands or BeneluxLeo BelgicusHang TuahMalayan tigerMelitaDolphinDodoMexican Motherland, La China Poblana Eagle and Jaguar warriors (Aztec Empire)Golden eagle, Jaguar, ChihuahueñoGenghis KhanMongolian horse, Saker falcon Fairy of Lovćen, Mother Montenegro Double-headed eagleDutch Maiden Dutch sailor (Holland)Dutch Republic Lion, Leo Belgicus Gurkha, Sherpa YetiZealandia Māui (Māori) Southern man (South Island)Dingwall, R. "Southern Man (Dunedin Airport) ", Otago Sculpture Trust, 19 November 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2017.Kiwi El Güegüense Motmot Mother MacedoniaBulgarian graphic representation of Bulgaria, East Rumelia and North MacedoniaLioness Mother Norway, Ola & Kari Nordmann, Nór Norwegian lion Palestine Handala Eagle of Saladin Mother of Panama Jaguar Peruvian Motherland, El Perú Libre Sapa Inca (Inca Empire) Vicuña La Madre Filipinas, Juan dela CruzPhilippine Carabao Polonia White eagle Zé Povinho, Efígie da República, Guardian Angel of Portugal Rooster of Barcelos Cecil Rhodes Sable antelope, Zimbabwe Bird România Lynx Mother Russia, General Winter Mother Buryatia (Buryatia) Russian bear Liberty Mother Serbia, Kosovo Maiden Serbian eagle MerlionJánošík Kralj Matjaž The Lady of Good Hope (Die Dame van Goeie Hoop or INkosikazi Yethemba Elihle) Adamastor (Cape of Good Hope) Voortrekker (Afrikaners)Voortrekker Monument , http://www.voortrekkermon.org Boer Woman (Orange Free State, obsolete) Oom Paul (Transvaal, obsolete) Shaka (Zululand, obsolete)Springbok Lion (Transvaal, obsolete) Hispania El Cid (Castile and León) Breogán (Galicia) Matrona Foral (Navarre) Hispanic Lion, Spanish Fighting Bull Sri Lanka Matha (Mother Sri Lanka)Lion 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. Mother Svea (Moder Svea) Helvetia Basilea (Basel) Berna (Bern) Geneva (Geneva) Tigurina Virgo (Zürich) Lucerna (Lucerne) CowValance, Marc. (Baden, 2013) Die Schweizer Kuh. Kult und Vermarktung eines nationalen Symbols, p. 6 ff. Formosan black bear Siam Devadhiraj White elephant Mehmetçik Wolf Oghuz Khagan Akhal-Teke Cossack Mamay, Mother Ukraine, Berehynia Ruthenian Lion None for the entire United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland) Britannia (Great Britain) John Bull (England) Scota (Scotland) Dame Wales (Wales) Bulldog The Lion and the Unicorn (England and Scotland) Welsh dragon (Wales) Manx cat (Mann) Columbia, Lady Liberty The Minuteman (American Revolution) Uncle Sam (federal government) Brother Jonathan (New England) Overmountain Men (Appalachians) Kamehameha (Hawaii) 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) Efigie de la República Timur Snow leopard, Huma bird Juan Bimba (obsolete) Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ Vietnamese Dragon, Lạc Bird Sable antelope, Zimbabwe Bird
See also 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. Contemporary pop cultural 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: Axis Powers, a manga and anime about personified countries interacting. Year Hare Affair
References
Further reading Lionel Gossman. "Making of a Romantic Icon: The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbeck's 'Italia und Germania.'" American Philosophical Society, 2007. .
External links
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"