National personification

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

A National personification are concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces/phenomena, such as seasons and weather in relation to personae characteristics of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political mascots and cultural depictions.

List of national personifications

Location Image Personification Animal used for the same purpose
 Greece Theodoros Vryzakis, Grateful Hellas (1858).jpg Hellas
 India Bharat Mata (6333841995).jpg Bharat Mata ("Mother India") Bengal tiger, Indian elephant
 Ireland Edmund Dwyer Gray Hibernia.png Ériu, Banba, Fódla, Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Hibernia, The Old Woman of Beare[1]
 United Kingdom Britannia-Statue.jpg 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 Unclesamwantyou.jpg 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)

National Personification Media

Related pages

  • National emblem, for other metaphors for nations.
  • Polandball, a satirical Internet meme where countries are depicted as balls.

References

  1. O'Rourke Murphy, M. & MacKillop, J. (2006). An Irish Literature Reader: Poetry, Prose, Drama.