Columbia (personification)

Columbia is a Neo-Latin toponym, used since the 1730s to refer to the Thirteen Colonies that would form the United States. It originated from the name of the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus and from the Latin ending -ia, common in the Latin names of countries (paralleling Britannia, Gallia, Zealandia, and others).

History

Early

The earliest type of personification of the Americas, seen in European art from the 16th century onwards, reflected the tropical regions in South and Central America from which the earliest European travelers reported back. Such images were most often used in sets of female personifications of the four continents. America was depicted as a woman who, like Africa, was only partly dressed, typically in bright feathers, which invariably formed her headdress. She often held a parrot, was seated on a caiman or alligator, with a cornucopia. Sometimes a severed head was a further attribute, or in prints scenes of cannibalism appeared in the background.

18th century

Though versions of this depiction, tending as time went on to soften the rather savage image into an "Indian princess" type, and in churches emphasizing conversion to Christianity, served European artists well enough, by the 18th century they were becoming rejected by settlers in North America, who wanted figures representing themselves rather than the Native Americans they were often in conflict with.

Massachusetts Chief Justice Samuel Sewall used the name "Columbina" for the New World in 1697. The name "Columbia" for America first appeared in 1738 in the weekly publication of the debates of Parliament in Edward Cave's The Gentleman's Magazine. Publication of parliamentary debates was technically illegal, so the debates were issued under the thin disguise of Reports of the Debates of the Senate of Lilliput and fictitious names were used for most individuals and place names found in the record. Most of these were transparent anagrams or similar distortions of the real names and some few were taken directly from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels while a few others were classical or neoclassical in style. Such were Ierne for Ireland, Iberia for Spain, Noveborac for New York (from Eboracum, the Roman name for York) and Columbia for America—at the time used in the sense of "European colonies in the New World".

By the time of the Revolution, the name Columbia had lost the comic overtone of its Lilliputian origins and had become established as an alternative, or poetic, name for America. While the name America is necessarily scanned with four syllables, according to 18th-century rules of English versification Columbia was normally scanned with three, which is often more metrically convenient. For instance, the name appears in a collection of complimentary poems written by Harvard graduates in 1761 on the occasion of the marriage and coronation of King George III.

Behold, Britannia! in thy favour'd Isle;

At distance, thou, Columbia! view thy Prince,

For ancestors renowned, for virtues more;

The name Columbia rapidly came to be applied to a variety of items reflecting American identity. A ship built in Massachusetts in 1773 received the name Columbia Rediviva and it later became famous as an exploring ship and lent its name to new Columbias.

After independence

With independence, the name became popular and was given to many counties, townships, and towns as well as other institutions.

• In 1784, the former King's College in New York City had its name changed to Columbia College, which became the nucleus of the present-day Ivy League Columbia University.
• In 1786, the name Columbia was given to the new capital city of South Carolina. Columbia is also the name of at least 19 other towns in the United States.
• Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society.
• In 1791, three commissioners appointed by President George Washington named the area destined for the seat of the United States government the territory of Columbia. In 1801, it was organized as the District of Columbia.
• In 1792, the Columbia Rediviva sailing ship gave its name to the Columbia River in the American Northwest (much later, the Rediviva gave its name to the Space Shuttle Columbia).
• In 1798, Joseph Hopkinson wrote lyrics for Philip Phile's 1789 inaugural president's march under the new title of "Hail, Columbia". Once used as de facto national anthem of the United States, it is now used as the entrance march of the Vice President of the United States.
• In 1819, a new country in the Americas was named Gran Colombia.
• In 1821, citizens of Boone County, Missouri, chose the name for their new city Columbia, Missouri,
• In 1865 Jules Verne's novel From the Earth to the Moon, the spacecraft to the Moon was fired from a giant Columbiad cannon.

In part, the more frequent usage of the name "Columbia" reflected a rising American neoclassicism, exemplified in the tendency to use Roman terms and symbols. The selection of the eagle as the national bird, the heraldric use of the eagle, the use of the term Senate to describe the upper house of Congress and the naming of Capitol Hill and the Capitol building were all conscious evocations of Roman precedents.

During Civil War

During the Civil War, the Union faced a coin shortage and issued Fractional currency depicting busts of George Washington and others, as well as allegorical figures such as Columbia and Liberty. The Confederacy also issued currency depicting allegorical figures such as Columbia and Liberty. However, Columbia depicted on these is very similar to the Progress of Civilization Pediment on the United States Capitol building.

Those on the Union side drew Columbia and the flag on envelopes to show their allegiance to the Union.

"Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" became popular during the Civil War. The song has lyrics praising the Union in the third verse. (Today, this part is usually not sung.)

The Union, the Union forever,
Our glorious nation's sweet hymn,
May the wreaths it has won never wither,
Nor the stars of its glory grow dim,
May the service united ne'er sever,
But they to their colors prove true.
The Army and Navy forever,
When borne by the red, white, and blue.
𝄆 When borne by the red, white, and blue. 𝄇
The Army and Navy for ever,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue.

Her statue is used on many of the Civil War monuments. Some of them are listed in this page.

Early 20th century

In the early 20th century, women dressed up as Columbia in parades to appeal for women's suffrage.

Early in World War I (1914–1918), the image of Columbia standing over a kneeling "doughboy" was issued in lieu of the Purple Heart medal. She gave "to her son the accolade of the new chivalry of humanity" for injuries sustained in the World War.

In World War I, the name Liberty Bond for savings bonds was heavily publicized, often with images from the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World). The personification of Columbia fell out of use and was largely replaced by the Statue of Liberty as a feminine symbol of the United States.

After Columbia Pictures adopted Columbia as its logo in 1924, she has since appeared as bearing a torch similar to that of the Statue of Liberty, unlike 19th-century depictions of Columbia. The Columbia Pictures logo is the most famous and prominent display of Columbia to many current Americans.

21st century

In 2023, on the commemorative medal issued by the U.S. Mint, Columbia does not wear a Phrygian cap and does not carry a weapon or shield as in the World War I poster. Instead, Columbia is holding an American flag and shaking hands with an American Indian. Between them sits a bust of Washington and the inscription "PEACE." Around them are elements symbolic of American life, both native and industrial. This medal is a reproduction of one issued in the 19th century. On a commemorative coin issued in 2024 depicting Liberty, the designers studied not only the liberty but also the portrayal of Columbia to depict liberty. The race of Liberty depicted on this coin is ambiguous. Like other national symbols such as Marianne, Britannia, and Liberty, Columbia's appearance and depiction has changed over time as a national symbol.