Columbia
The use of a character to represent a country and all the people living in that country has a long journalistic and literary history.
Before the United States had an Uncle Sam, it had a Brother Jonathan and the Romanesque goddess known as Columbia. The first known use of Columbia as personification of America appeared in a weekly British publication in 1738. By the time of the American Revolutionary War, Columbia had become a symbol of the new, independent country.
In form, Columbia is a quasi-mythical, adult female personification of the United States and the values of the people who live there. She wears roman-styled robes which are pure white or red, white and blue. If she is not wearing the colors of the United States flag, she is holding one. On her head she wears a cap of liberty or a laurel wreath. She has evolved over time from looking almost Native American to the Anglo-American looking women in the World War I era posters.
Although her dominance as a United States icon has waned, Columbia played an important role in the propaganda of World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945). She implored citizens to buy bonds, ordered men to join the service and watched over United States soldiers fighting in foreign lands.
