National personification

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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.
The Liberty of Oudiné in memory of the Argentine centenary of the May Revolution (1810-1910).

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

Hispania, Helvetia and Polonia
.

Examples of personifications of the

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

  • Iudaea Capta, "Conquered Judaea", commemorative coin issued by the Roman emperor Vespasian (left) after the Jewish War
    Iudaea Capta, "Conquered
    Judaea", 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.
    An early example of national personification in a
    Gallia, and Roma, bringing offerings to Emperor Otto III
    .
  • Italia und Germania (1828) by Johann Friedrich Overbeck.
  • 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
    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.
    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.
    Columbia depicted in an
    American Committee for Relief in the Near East
    poster defending an Armenian woman beneath her flag.

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
 Artsakh Grandmother and Grandfather
 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 );
 Bulgaria Mother Bulgaria Double-headed eagle
 Cambodia Preah Thong and Neang Neak
 Canada
Le Vieux de '37 (Quebec), Canada Bereft (Vimy Memorial). 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".[9]
Canadian beaver
 Chile El
Doña Juanita
Condorito
 China and  Taiwan Jade Emperor Chinese dragon,
Snow Lion (Tibet)
 Colombia Juan Valdez
 Croatia Mother Croatia
 Czechia
Svejk
.
Czech lion
 Denmark
Holger Danske, Mother Denmark
 Dominican Republic Conchoprimo
 Egypt Mother of the World Sphinx
 El Salvador Salvador del Mundo
 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)
Bundesadler, Berliner Bär (Berlin), Bavarian Lion (Bavaria), Marcher Eagle (Brandenburg
), Prussian Eagle (Prussia)
 Greece Hellas
 Haiti Ezili Dantor, Katrin
 Hawaiian Kingdom Kamehameha the Great Humpback whale
 Hungary The Lady of Hungaria Turul
 Iceland The
Lady of the Mountains
 India Bharat Mata Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian Elephant, Indian peafowl
 Indonesia Ibu Pertiwi
Garuda Pancasila
 Iran,  Afghanistan and  Tajikistan Rostam[10][11][12]
Lion and sun
 Ireland Ériu, Banba, Fódla, Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Hibernia, The Old Woman of Beare[13]
 Israel Srulik
 Italy Italia turrita, Roma (Roman Empire) Italian wolf,[14][15]
Lion of Saint Mark (Venice)[16]
 Japan Amaterasu, Emperor Jimmu[17]
Green Pheasant, Koi
 Kazakhstan Altin Adam
 Kenya Wanjiku
Korea ( North Korea and  South Korea - despite mutual enmity, both states lay claim to the same historical heritage) Dangun, Ungnyeo, Hwanung
Chollima
 Kyrgyzstan Manas
 Latvia Milda
 Lebanon Abu Abed
 Lithuania Lietuva
Benelux Low Lands or Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) Leo Belgicus
 Malaysia Hang Tuah[18][19] Malayan tiger[20]
 Malta Melita
 Mexico
China Poblana
Golden eagle
 Mongolia Genghis Khan
 Montenegro Fairy of Lovćen, Mother Montenegro
 Morocco
Barbary Lion
 Netherlands Dutch Maiden Dutch Republic Lion, Leo Hollandicus, Leo Belgicus
   Nepal Gurkha, Sherpa Yeti[21]
 New Zealand Zealandia,[22] Southern man (South Island)[23] Kiwi
 Nicaragua El Güegüense Motmot
 North Macedonia Mother Macedonia[24][25] Lioness
 Norway
Kari Nordmann, Nór
Palestine Handala
 Peru Peruvian Motherland Vicuña
 Philippines
La Madre Filipinas, Juan dela Cruz
Philippine Carabao
 Poland Polonia
White eagle
 Portugal
Guardian Angel of Portugal
Rooster of Barcelos
 Puerto Rico Jíbaro Coquí
 Republic of Texas The Spirit of Sacrifice Longhorn
 Romania România Lynx
 Russia
Mother Russia, General Winter
Russian bear
 San Marino Liberty, Saint Marinus
 Serbia Mother Serbia 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)
 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.[26]
 Sweden Mother Svea (Moder Svea)
  Switzerland Helvetia, Basilea (Basel), Berna (Bern), Geneva (Geneva), Tigurina Virgo (Zürich), Lucerna (Lucerne)
Cow[27]
 Thailand Siam Devadhiraj White elephant
 Ukraine Cossack Mamay Ruthenian Lion
 United Kingdom Britannia, John Bull, Dame Wales (Wales), Scota (Scotland)
Welsh dragon
(Wales)
 United States Columbia, Lady Liberty, Lady Justice, Uncle Sam (federal government), Billy Yank (The North, obsolete), Johnny Reb (The South, obsolete), Brother Jonathan (New England, obsolete)
American Buffalo, Timber rattlesnake
(American Revolution, obsolete)
 Uruguay Efigie de la República
Vermont Vermont Republic The Green Mountaineers
 Vietnam
The Four Immortals
Vietnamese Dragon
, Lạc Bird

See also

  • Afghanis-tan, a manga originally published as a webcomic about Central Asia with personified countries.
  • online communities
    .
  • Hetalia: Axis Powers, an anime about personified countries interacting, mostly taking place within the World Wars.
  • 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

  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. . 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. .
  6. .
  7. . Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  8. .
  9. ^ "Library and Archives Canada". Library and Archives Canada.
  10. ^ Hassanabadi, Mahmoud. "Rostam: A Complex Puzzle: A New Approach to the Identification of the Character of Rostam in the Iranian National Epos Shāhnāme".
  11. .
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ O'Rourke Murphy, M. & MacKillop, J. (2006). An Irish Literature Reader: Poetry, Prose, Drama.
  14. .
  15. .
  16. ^ ""Saint Mark", Franciscan Media". Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  17. ^ Yordan Zhelyazkov (February 12, 2021). "Amaterasu – Goddess, Mother and Queen". Symbolsage. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  18. .
  19. .
  20. .
  21. ^ Subba, Sanghamitra. "Love it or hate it, it's abominable".
  22. ^ Phillips, Jock. "South African War memorial, Waimate".
  23. ^ Dingwall, R. "Southern Man (Dunedin Airport)", Otago Sculpture Trust, 19 November 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  24. ^ 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
  25. ^ Bulgarian graphic representation of Bulgaria, East Rumelia and North Macedonia
  26. ^ "Kunstschatten: Mama Sranan - Parbode Magazine". Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  27. ^ Valance, Marc. (Baden, 2013) Die Schweizer Kuh. Kult und Vermarktung eines nationalen Symbols, p. 6 ff.

Further reading

External links