National personification

A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a nation or its people. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. As a personification it cannot be a real person, of the Father of the Nation type, or one from ancient history who is believed to have been real.

Britannia arm-in-arm with Uncle Sam symbolizes the British-American alliance in World War I.

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.

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.

Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations of the majestic wisdom and war goddess Minerva/Athena, and often took the Latin name of the ancient Roman province. Examples of this type include Britannia, Germania, Hibernia, 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 more broadly, the Roman state, and who was revived in the 20th Century as the personification of Mussolini's "New Roman Empire". Examples of representations of the everyman or citizenry in addition to the nation itself are Deutscher Michel, John Bull and Uncle Sam.[1]

Personifications by country or territory

Country	Image	Personification	Animal used for the same purpose
Albania		Mother Albania (Nëna Shqipëria)
The Americas		Personification of the Americas
Argentina		Effigy of the Republic/Liberty/Progress/Fatherland, Gaucho
Armenia		Mother Armenia (Mayr Hayastan; lit. "Mother Hayastan")
Australia		Phoebus, Little Boy from Manly	Boxing kangaroo
Austria		Austria (Personification)
Bangladesh			Bengal tiger.[2]
Belgium		La Belgique or Belgica.	Leo Belgicus
Brazil		Efígie da República; the Bandeirante (only in São Paulo State); the Candango (in Brasília); the Gaúcho (in Rio Grande do Sul)
Bulgaria		Mother Bulgaria
Cambodia		Preah Thong and Neang Neak
Canada		Mountie,[3] Johnny Canuck,[4] Le Vieux de '37 (French Canada), Canada Bereft also known as Mother Canada (at the Canadian National 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"[5]	Canadian beaver
Chile		El Roto, El Huaso, Doña Juanita (an average Chilean woman from the countryside)
China and  Taiwan		Jade Emperor	Chinese dragon
Colombia		Juan Valdez
Czech Republic		Čechie, Czech Vašek, Svejk.	double-tailed Czech lion
Denmark		Holger Danske, Mor Danmark
Dominican Republic		Conchoprimo
Egypt		Mother of the World (Om El Donia)
El Salvador		Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo
Europe		Europa or Europa regina	Zeus as a white bull
Finland		Finnish Maiden (Suomi-neito)
France		Marianne	Gallic rooster
Georgia		Georgia: "Mother of a Georgian" (Kartvlis Deda)
Germany		Germany: Germania, Deutscher Michel Bavaria: Bavaria, Berlin: Berolina, Brunswick: Brunonia, Franconia: Franconia, Hamburg: Hammonia, Prussia: Borussia, Palatinate: Palatia, Saxony: Saxonia	Reichsadler
Greece		Hellas
Haiti		Ezili Dantor, Katrin (based on the real life Haitian hero, Catherine Flon)
Hungary		The Lady of Hungaria
Iceland		The Lady of the Mountains (Fjallkonan)
India		Bharat Mata ("Mother India")	Indian tiger, Indian elephant
Indonesia		Ibu Pertiwi	Garuda Pancasila
Iran,  Afghanistan and  Tajikistan		Rostam
Ireland		Ériu, Banba, Fódla, Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Hibernia, The Old Woman of Beare[6]
Israel		Srulik
Italy		Italia Turrita, Roma
Japan		Amaterasu, Emperor Jimmu	Green Pheasant, Koi
Kazakhstan		Kobylandy
Kenya		Wanjiku
Korea ( North Korea and  South Korea)		Dangun, Ungnyeo, Yangban	Korean Tiger, Chollima
Kyrgyzstan		Manas
Malaysia		Hang Tuah[7][8]	Malayan tiger[9]
Malta		Melita
Mexico		Alegoría de la Patria Mexicana (es), La China Poblana	Golden eagle
Morocco			Barbary Lion
Montenegro		Fairy of Lovćen, Mother Montenegro
Netherlands		Dutch Maiden	Dutch Republic Lion
New Zealand		Zealandia[10]	Kiwi
North Macedonia		Mother Macedonia[11][12]
Norway		Mother Norway, stereotyp. Ola Nordmann & Kari Nordmann, hist. Nór
Pakistan		Pak Watan/Ali Faisal "A Term of Endearment for Pakistan," Mumlikat-e-Khudadad ('God-Given State')	Snow leopard.[13]
Palestine		Handala
Peru		Libertad also known as Madre Patria (Allegory of the Peruvian Motherland)	Vicuña
Philippines		Ináng Bayan, Filipinas, Juan dela Cruz	Philippine Carabao
Poland		Polonia	White eagle
Portugal		Zé Povinho, Eu nacional (National Self), Republic effigy, Guardian Angel of Portugal
Romania		România
Russia		Mother Russia/Mother Motherland	Russian bear
Serbia		Mother Serbia, Kosovo Maiden
Singapore			Merlion
Slovakia		Jánošík
Slovenia		Kralj Matjaž ("King Matjaž", a legendary king in Slovenia and some other nations), Peter Klepec
Spain		Hispania
Sri Lanka		Sri Lanka Matha
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.[14]
Sweden		Mother Svea, Svenne Svensson
Switzerland		Helvetia
Thailand		Siam Devadhiraj (พระสยามเทวาธิราช "The guardian angel of Siam"), Thailand	White elephant
Turkey,  Azerbaijan,  Turkmenistan and  Uzbekistan		Koroghlu
Ukraine		Cossack Mamay
United Kingdom		Britannia (United Kingdom), John Bull (England), Dame Wales (Wales)	The Lion and the Unicorn (England and Scotland), Bulldog (United Kingdom), Welsh dragon (Wales)
United States		Uncle Sam (government personification), Lady Liberty, Columbia, Johnny Reb (The South, obsolete), Billy Yank (The North, obsolete), Brother Jonathan (New England, obsolete)	Bald Eagle, Timber rattlesnake (American Revolution, obsolete)
Uruguay		Personification of Uruguay
Vietnam		The Four Immortals, Hùng King

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: 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 embodies a nation.

References

1. Eric Hobsbawm, "Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870-1914," in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge, 1983), 263-307.
2. "NATIONAL SYMBOLS". Bangladesh Tourism Board. Bangladesh: Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism. Archived from the original on 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
3. McGill, Robert (2017). War Is Here: The Vietnam War and Canadian Literature. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780773551589. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
4. Barber, Katherine (2007). Only in Canada You Say: A Treasury of Canadian Language. Oxford University Press Canada. p. 70. ISBN 9780195427073.
5. "Library and Archives Canada".
6. O'Rourke Murphy, M. & MacKillop, J. (2006). An Irish Literature Reader: Poetry, Prose, Drama.
7. Liok Ee Tan (1988). The Rhetoric of Bangsa and Minzu. Monash Asia Institute. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-86746-909-7.
8. Melanie Chew (1999). The Presidential Notes: A biography of President Yusof bin Ishak. Singapore: SNP Publications. p. 78. ISBN 978-981-4032-48-3.
9. Minahan, James B. (2009). The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems. Greenwood. p. 101. ISBN 978-0313344961.
10. https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/32532/south-african-war-memorial-waimate
11. "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 Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. Bulgarian graphic representation of Bulgaria, East Rumelia and North Macedonia
13. "The Official Web Gateway to Pakistan". www.pakistan.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2016-03-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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.

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"