thumb|The allegorical personification of Italy ([[Italia turrita; ), goes back to ancient Rome. The woman is linked to Cybele, an Anatolian fertility goddess.]]

thumb|[[Saint Michael at right, gesturing to, from left: an unspecified figure, Brittania, Italia, Austria, Mother Russia, Germania, and Marianne of France]]

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.

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>

File:Vespasian. Judaea Capta commemorative (CNG 303440).jpg|Iudaea Capta, "Judaea Taken", commemorative coin issued by the Roman emperor Vespasian (left) after the Jewish War

File:4 Gift Bringers of Otto III.jpg|An early example of national personification in the Gospels of Otto III dated 990: Sclavinia, Germania, Gallia, and Roma, bringing offerings to Emperor Otto III.|alt=An early example of national personification in the Gospels of Otto III dated 990: Sclavinia, Germania, Gallia, and Roma, bringing offerings to Emperor Otto III.: 94

File:Britannia.jpg|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.

Image:Allegorie Pacificatie van Gent.jpg|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.

File:Naval-race-1909.jpg|1909 cartoon in Puck shows (clockwise) US, Germany, Britain, France and Japan engaged in naval race in a "no limit" game.

File:They Shall Not Perish.png|Columbia depicted in an American Committee for Relief in the Near East poster defending an Armenian woman beneath her flag

File:Recuerdo centenario argentino.jpg|The Liberty of Oudiné in memory of the Argentine centenary of the May Revolution (1810-1910)

File:Altare della Patria-July 2016 (59).jpg|Tomb of the Italian Unknown Soldier, under the statue of goddess Roma, at Altare della Patria, Rome. Above it can be seen the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, the first king of a unified Italy

File:Courtyard of the Doge's Palace (Venice) - Scala dei giganti - Lion of Saint Mark.jpg|The winged Lion of Saint Mark at the Scuola Grande di San Marco, Venice. The open book holds the legend ()

File:Lupa Capitolina, Rome.jpg|The Capitoline Wolf is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

</gallery>

Personifications by country or territory

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PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU ADD ANYTHING TO THE LIST BELOW!

This is supposed to be a list of national personifications - that is NOT national heroes, founding fathers, heraldic figures or national animals. However, national heroes and national fauna or flora can only be added if they are used for the same purpose. Read the definition above first, then update the list. This list is also incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

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{| class="wikitable"

! Location

! Image

! Personification

! Animal or plants used for the same purpose

|-

| Africa

| 75px

| Africa

| African animals

|-

|

| 75px

| Mother Albania

| Double-headed eagle

|-

| , , and

| 75px

|

| Barbary lion, Fennecs

|-

| Americas

| 75px

| Personification of the Americas

| American alligator

|-

|

| 75px

| Allegory of the Republic, Gaucho

| Hornero

|-

|

| 65px

| Mother Armenia

  • David of Sassoun
  • We Are Our Mountains (Artsakh)

|

|-

|

|75px

|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

|-

|

| frameless|75px

| Austria

  • Tyrolia (Tyrol)

| Double-headed eagle

|-

|

| 75px

| Bangamata

|Bengal tiger

|-

|

| 75px

| La Belgique, Manneken Pis

| Brabantic Lion, Leo Belgicus

|-

|

|75px

| Pachamama

| Llama

|-

|

| 75px

|Efígie da República

  • Native Brazilian (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

|

|-

|

|75px

| Mother Bulgaria

|Lion

|-

|

|

| Preah Thong and Neang Neak

|

|-

|

| 75px

| 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)

|-

|

| 75px

| Huaso, Señora Juanita

  • Roto (contentious)
  • Angel of Liberty (Dictatorship, obsolete)

| Condorito

|-

|

| 75px

|

| Chinese dragon, Panda, hare

  • Snow lion (Tibet)

|-

|

| 75px

| Juan Valdez

|Andean condor

|-

|

| 75px

| Mother Croatia

| Beech marten (kuna)

|-

|

| 75px

| La República

| Tocororo

|-

|

| 75px

| Liberty

| Cypriot Mouflon

|-

|

| 75px

| Čechie, Czech Vašek, Honza, Svejk

| Czech lion

|-

|

| 75px

| Holger Danske, Mother Denmark

| Mute swan

  • Polar bear (Greenland)

|-

|

|75px

| Conchoprimo

|

|-

|

| 75px

| Egypt's Renaissance

| Sphinx

|-

|

| 75px

| Salvador del Mundo

| Torogoz

|-

|

| 75px

| Kalevipoeg

|

|-

| Europe

| 75px

| Europa or Europa regina

|

|-

|

| 75px

| Finnish Maiden

| Finnish lion

|-

|

| 75px

| Marianne

  • Tiki (French Polynesia)

| Gallic rooster

  • Manta ray (French Polynesia)

|-

|

|

| Mother of Kartvel

|

|-

|

| 75px

| 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)

|-

|

| 75px

| Hellas

  • Athena (Athens)

|

|-

|

| 75px

| Ezili Dantor, Le Marron Inconnu, Katrin

|

|-

| Haudenosaunee

| 75px

| Hiawatha

| Beaver

|-

|

| 75px

| The Lady of Hungaria

  • Prince Csaba (Székely Land)

| Turul

|-

|

| 75px

| The Lady of the Mountains

|Gyrfalcon

|-

|

| 75px

| Bharat Mata

  • Telugu Thalli (Andhra Pradesh)
  • Kangleipak Ima (Manipur)
  • Tamil Thai (Tamil Nadu)
  • Telangana Thalli (Telangana)
  • Banga Mata (West Bengal)

| Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian Elephant, Indian peafowl

  • Pākhangbā (Manipur)

|-

|

| 75px

| Ibu Pertiwi (Mother Prithvi)

| Garuda Pancasila

|-

| , and

| 75px

| Rostam

| Lion and sun

|-

|

| 75px

| Ériu, Banba, Fódla, Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Hibernia, The Old Woman of Beare

| Irish Hare

|-

|

| 75px

| Daughter of Zion, Srulik

| Lion of Judah

|-

|

| 75px

| Italia turrita

  • Roma (Rome)
  • Venezia trionfante (Venice)

| Italian wolf

  • Aquila (Roman Empire)
  • Capitoline Wolf (Rome)
  • Lion of Saint Mark (Venice)

|-

|

| 75px

| Yamato-hime, Samurai

| Green Pheasant

|-

|

| 75px

| Altin Adam

| Tulpar

|-

| Korea ( and - despite mutual enmity, both states lay claim to the same historical heritage)

| 75px

|

| Korean Tiger

|-

|

| 75px

| Manas

| Siberian ibex

|-

|

| 112x112px

| Latvian Maiden, Liberty, Lāčplēsis

|

|-

|

| 112x112px

|

| Cedrus

|-

|

| 75px

| Vytis, Lithuania

| White Stallion

|-

| Low Lands or Benelux

|100x100px

|

|Leo Belgicus

|-

|

|75px

|Hang Tuah

|Malayan tiger

|-

|

|75px

|Melita

|Dolphin

|-

|

|75px

|

|Dodo

|-

|

|75px

|Mexican Motherland, La China Poblana

  • Eagle and Jaguar warriors (Aztec Empire)

|Golden eagle, Jaguar, Chihuahueño

|-

|

|75px

|Genghis Khan

|Mongolian horse, Saker falcon

|-

|

|75px

| Fairy of Lovćen, Mother Montenegro

| Double-headed eagle

|-

|

|75px

|Dutch Maiden

  • Dutch sailor (Holland)

|Dutch Republic Lion, Leo Belgicus

|-

|

| 75px

| Gurkha, Sherpa

| Yeti

|-

|

|75px

|Zealandia

  • Māui (Māori)
  • Southern man (South Island)

|Kiwi

|-

|

| 75px

| El Güegüense

| Motmot

|-

|

| 75px

| Mother Macedonia

|Lioness

|-

|

| 75px

| Mother Norway, Ola & Kari Nordmann, Nór

| Norwegian lion

|-

| Palestine

|

| Handala

| Eagle of Saladin

|-

|

| 75px

| Mother of Panama

| Jaguar

|-

|

| 75px

| Peruvian Motherland, El Perú Libre

  • Sapa Inca (Inca Empire)

| Vicuña

|-

|

|left|frameless|75px

| La Madre Filipinas, Juan dela Cruz

|Philippine Carabao

|-

|

| 75px

| Polonia

| White eagle

|-

|

| 75px

| Zé Povinho, Efígie da República, Guardian Angel of Portugal

| Rooster of Barcelos

|-

|

| 75px

| Cecil Rhodes

| Sable antelope, Zimbabwe Bird

|-

|

| 75px

| România

| Lynx

|-

|

| 75px

| Mother Russia, General Winter

  • Mother Buryatia (Buryatia)

| Russian bear

|-

|

| 75px

| Liberty

|

|-

|

| 75px

| Mother Serbia, Kosovo Maiden

| Serbian eagle

|-

|

| 75px

|

|Merlion

|-

|

|75px

|Jánošík

|

|-

|

| 75px

| Kralj Matjaž

|

|-

|

|frameless|97x97px

| The Lady of Good Hope (Die Dame van Goeie Hoop or INkosikazi Yethemba Elihle)

  • Adamastor (Cape of Good Hope)
  • Voortrekker (Afrikaners)
  • Boer Woman (Orange Free State, obsolete)
  • Oom Paul (Transvaal, obsolete)
  • Shaka (Zululand, obsolete)

|Springbok

  • Lion (Transvaal, obsolete)

|-

|

| 75px

| Hispania

  • El Cid (Castile and León)
  • Breogán (Galicia)
  • Matrona Foral (Navarre)

| Hispanic Lion, Spanish Fighting Bull

|-

|

|

| Sri Lanka Matha (Mother Sri Lanka)

|Lion

|-

|

| 75px

| 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.

|

|-

|

| 75px

| Mother Svea (Moder Svea)

|

|-

|

| 75px

| Helvetia

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

| Cow

|-

|

| 75px

|

| Formosan black bear

|-

|

| 75px

| Siam Devadhiraj

| White elephant

|-

|

| 75px

| Turkish Motherland

| Wolf

|-

|

| 75px

| Oghuz Khagan

| Akhal-Teke

|-

|

| 75px

| Cossack Mamay, Mother Ukraine, Berehynia

| Ruthenian Lion

|-

|

| 75px

| Britannia

  • John Bull (England)
  • Scota (Scotland)
  • Dame Wales (Wales)

| Bulldog

  • The Lion and the Unicorn (England and Scotland)
  • Welsh dragon (Wales)
  • Manx cat (Mann)

|-

|

| 75px

| 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)

|-

|

| 75px

| Efigie de la República

|

|-

|

|

| Timur

| Snow leopard, Huma bird

|-

|

|

| Juan Bimba (obsolete)

|

|-

|

| 75px

| 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.