National personification

Fictional character used to represent a country and its people

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.

A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda.

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.

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.[1]

Examples of representations of the everyman or citizenry in addition to the nation itself are Deutscher Michel, John Bull and Uncle Sam.[2]

## Gallery

[edit]

* 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)

## Personifications by country or territory

[edit]

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 |  | Little Boy from Manly | Boxing kangaroo
Austria |  | Austria

* Tyrolia (Tyrol)

| Double-headed eagle
Bangladesh |  | Bangamata[3] | Bengal tiger[4]
Belgium |  | La Belgique, Manneken Pis[5][6] | Brabantic Lion, Leo Belgicus
Bhutan |  |  | Thunder Dragon
Brazil |  | Efígie da República

* the Bandeirante (São Paulo State and Minas Gerais)
* the "Tropeiro" (Minas Gerais)
* the Candango (Brasília)
* the Gaúcho (Rio Grande do Sul);

Brunei |  | Awang Budiman[7][8] |
Bulgaria |  | Mother Bulgaria  | Double-headed eagle
Cambodia |  | Preah Thong and Neang Neak |
Canada |  | Mountie,[9] Johnny Canuck,[10] Canada Bereft (Vimy Memorial).

* Le Vieux de '37 (Quebec)
* Inuit (Nunavut)[11]

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".[12]

| Canadian beaver

* Snowy owl (Quebec)
* Qimmiq (Nunavut)

Chile |  | Huaso, Roto, Señora Juanita, Angel of Liberty[13]

* Moai (Rapa Nui)

| Condorito
China and  Taiwan |  |  | Chinese dragon, Panda, hare[14]

* Snow Lion (Tibet)

Colombia |  | Juan Valdez |
Croatia |  | Mother Croatia | Dalmatian
Cuba |  | La República | Tocororo
Cyprus |  | Liberty | Cypriot Mouflon[15]
Czechia |  | Čechie, Czech Vašek, Honza, Svejk | Czech lion
Denmark |  | Holger Danske, Mother Denmark | Mute swan

* Polar bear (Greenland)

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 a Georgian |
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 |
Haiti |  | Ezili Dantor, Le Marron Inconnu, Katrin |
Hungary |  | The Lady of Hungaria | Turul
Iceland |  | The Lady of the Mountains |
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[16][17][18] | Lion and sun
Ireland |  | Ériu, Banba, Fódla, Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Hibernia, The Old Woman of Beare[19] | Irish Hare[20]
Israel |  | Srulik | Lion of Judah
Italy |  | Italia turrita

* Roma (Rome)

| Italian wolf[21][22]

* Aquila, Capitoline Wolf (Rome)
* Lion of Saint Mark (Venice)[23]

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 |  | Milda, Liberty |
Lebanon |  | Abu Abed |
Lithuania |  | White Knight (Vytis) | White Stallion
Low Lands or Benelux |  |  | Leo Belgicus
Malaysia |  | Hang Tuah[24][25] | Malayan tiger[26]
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[27]
New Zealand |  | Zealandia[28]

* Southern man (South Island)[29]

| Kiwi
Nicaragua |  | El Güegüense | Motmot
North Macedonia |  | Mother Macedonia[30][31] | Lioness
Norway |  | Mother Norway, Ola & Kari Nordmann, Nór |
Palestine |  | Handala |
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 | 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  | Springbok
Spain |  | Hispania

* Breogán (Galicia)

| Hispanic Lion
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.[32] |
Sweden |  | Mother Svea (Moder Svea)  |
Switzerland |  | Helvetia

* Basilea (Basel)
* Berna (Bern)
* Geneva (Geneva)
* Tigurina Virgo (Zürich)
* Lucerna (Lucerne)

| Cow[33]
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 | Ruthenian Lion
United Kingdom |  | Britannia

* John Bull (England)[34]
* 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[35]

* Uncle Sam (federal government)
* Brother Jonathan (New England)
* Kamehameha (Hawaii)
* Sequoyah (Oklahoma)
* The Lady of the Alamo (Texas)
* 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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

1. ^ "Il Tempio di Venere e Roma" (in Italian). Retrieved 12 September 2023.
2. ^ Eric Hobsbawm, "Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870-1914," in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge, 1983), 263-307.
3. ^ Ahmed, Salahuddin (2004). Bangladesh: Past and Present. APH Publishing. p. 310\. ISBN 8176484695. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
4. ^ "NATIONAL SYMBOLS". Bangladesh Tourism Board. Bangladesh: Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism. Archived from the original on 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
5. ^ Couvreur, Manuel; Deknop, Anne; Symons, Thérèse (2005). Manneken-Pis : Dans tous ses états. Historia Bruxellae (in French). Vol. 9\. Brussels: Musées de la Ville de Bruxelles. ISBN 978-2-930423-01-2.
6. ^ Emerson, Catherine (2015). Regarding Manneken Pis: Culture, Celebration and Conflict in Brussels. Leeds: Taylor & Francis Ltd. ISBN 978-1-909662-30-8.
7. ^ "20th SEA Games 1999". 2001-03-02. Archived from the original on 2001-03-02. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
8. ^ "Berita 2021c - Rekaan baju 'Dang Budiwati' imbau zaman gemilang Sukan SEA NBD". www.pelitabrunei.gov.bn. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
9. ^ McGill, Robert (2017). War Is Here: The Vietnam War and Canadian Literature. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 37\. ISBN 9780773551589. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
10. ^ Barber, Katherine (2007). Only in Canada You Say: A Treasury of Canadian Language. Oxford University Press Canada. p. 70. ISBN 9780195427073.
11. ^ Légaré, André (2008). "Inuit identity and regionalization in the Canadian Central and Eastern Arctic: a survey of writings about Nunavut". Polar Geography. 31 (3–4): 99–118. Bibcode:2008PolGe..31...99L. doi:10.1080/10889370701742845. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
12. ^ "Library and Archives Canada". Library and Archives Canada.
13. ^ "CHILE: 50 AÑOS DEL GOLPE. EL ÁNGEL DE LA LIBERTAD". Rascacielos. September 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
14. ^ "网民为什么会把中国称为"兔子"" [Why do Internet called China a "hare"?]. The Paper (in Chinese). 1 August 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
15. ^ "Animals in Cyprus". AZ Animals. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
16. ^ Hassanabadi, Mahmoud. "Rostam: A Complex Puzzle: A New Approach to the Identification of the Character of Rostam in the Iranian National Epos Shāhnāme".
17. ^ Dallmayr, Fred (25 August 1999). Border Crossings: Toward a Comparative Political Theory. Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739152546.
18. ^ Heck, Isabel. "Le mythe de Siyâvosh: rapports entre l'épopée nationale de ferdowsi et des récits populaires en Iran (The myth of Siyâvosh: relationships between the national epic of Ferdowsi and popular stories in Iran)" (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 2024-02-08.
19. ^ O'Rourke Murphy, M. & MacKillop, J. (2006). An Irish Literature Reader: Poetry, Prose, Drama.
20. ^ "Discovering What's the National Animal of Ireland: A Cultural Emblem Revealed". 3 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
21. ^ Minahan, James B. (2009). The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems. ABC-CLIO. p. 436\. ISBN 9780313344978.
22. ^ Blashfield, Jean F. (2009). Italy. Scholastic. p. 33\. ISBN 9780531120996.
23. ^ ""Saint Mark", Franciscan Media". Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
24. ^ Liok Ee Tan (1988). The Rhetoric of Bangsa and Minzu. Monash Asia Institute. p. 14\. ISBN 978-0-86746-909-7.
25. ^ Melanie Chew (1999). The Presidential Notes: A biography of President Yusof bin Ishak. Singapore: SNP Publications. p. 78\. ISBN 978-981-4032-48-3.
26. ^ Minahan, James B. (2009). The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems. Greenwood. p. 101\. ISBN 978-0313344961.
27. ^ Subba, Sanghamitra (29 January 2020). "Love it or hate it, it's abominable".
28. ^ Phillips, Jock. "South African War memorial, Waimate".
29. ^ Dingwall, R. "Southern Man (Dunedin Airport)", Otago Sculpture Trust, 19 November 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
30. ^ A Manifesto from the Provisional Government of Macedonia, 1881, "Our mother Macedonia became now as a widow, lonely and deserted by her sons. She does not fly the banner of the victorious Macedonian army"
31. ^ Bulgarian graphic representation of Bulgaria, East Rumelia and North Macedonia
32. ^ "Kunstschatten: Mama Sranan - Parbode Magazine". Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
33. ^ Valance, Marc. (Baden, 2013) Die Schweizer Kuh. Kult und Vermarktung eines nationalen Symbols, p. 6 ff.
34. ^ "John Bull, symbol of the English and Englishness". Historic UK. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
35. ^ "Britannia and Liberty: Behind the Design". Royal Mint. Retrieved 6 August 2024.

## Further reading

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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"

* v
* t
* e

National personifications

* Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan
* Rostam
* Albania
* Mother Albania
* Americas
* Personification of the Americas
* Argentina
* Effigies of Argentina
* Armenia
* Mother Armenia
* Australia
* Little Boy from Manly
* Bangladesh
* Bangamata
* Belgium
* Leo Belgicus
* Brazil
* Efígie da República
* Cambodia
* Preah Thong and Neang Neak
* Canada
* Johnny Canuck
* Chile
* Huaso
* Roto
* China
* Panda
* Chinese dragon
* Jade Emperor
* Croatia
* Mother Croatia
* Czech Republic
* Čechie
* Czech Vašek
* Švejk
* Denmark
* Holger Danske
* Mother Denmark
* Europe
* Europa
* Europa regina
* Finland
* Finnish Maiden
* France
* Marianne
* Gallic rooster
* Georgia
* Kartvlis Deda
* Germany
* Deutscher Michel
* Germania
* Greece
* Hellas
* Haiti
* Ezili Dantor
* Catherine Flon
* Hungary
* Lady of Hungaria
* Iceland
* Lady of the Mountain
* India
* Bharat Mata
* Indian Elephant
* Indonesia
* Ibu Pertiwi
* Ireland
* Ériu
* Hibernia
* Kathleen Ni Houlihan
* Israel
* Srulik
* Italy
* Italia turrita
* Roma
* Japan
* Amaterasu
* Kenya
* Wanjiku
* Korea
* Dangun
* Ungnyeo
* Kyrgyzstan
* Manas
* Lebanon
* Abu Abed
* Malaysia
* Hang Tuah
* Malta
* Melita
* Netherlands
* Dutch Maiden
* New Zealand
* Southern man
* Zealandia
* Norway
* Ola Nordmann
* Pakistan
* Shaheen
* Māder-e Millat
* Palestine
* Handala
* Peru
* Madre Patria
* Philippines
* Juan dela Cruz
* Maria Clara
* Poland
* Polonia
* Portugal
* Efígie da República
* Zé Povinho
* Russia
* Mother Russia
* Russian Bear
* Russian Winter
* Serbia
* Kosovo Maiden
* Mother Serbia
* Singapore
* Merlion
* Spain
* Hispania
* Sweden
* Mother Svea
* Switzerland
* Helvetia
* Thailand
* Siam Devadhiraj
* Ukraine
* Cossack Mamay
* United Kingdom
* Britannia
* John Bull
* Dame Wales
* Welsh Dragon
* United States
* Brother Jonathan
* Columbia
* Lady Liberty
* Lady Justice
* Uncle Sam
* Billy Yank
* Northern states
* Johnny Reb
* Southern states
* Countryballs

* Other symbols of Liberty

* v
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National symbols (list)

Topics|

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Lists|

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Galleries|

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Personal names and anthroponymy

Personal name|

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By sequence|

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By trait|

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By life situation|

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Pseudonyms (list)|

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By culture
Surnames by country|

| East Asian|

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|

Northern Asia
and Central Asia|

* Kalmyk
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Muslim world
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Europe, North America
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| Baltic|

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|

Celtic|

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Germanic|

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Manners of address
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|

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Related|

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* Category:Lists of names

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