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Concept
Columbia (personification)
Summary
Columbia (kəˈlʌmbiə; ), also known as Miss Columbia, is a female national personification of the United States. It was also a historical name applied to the Americas and to the New World. The association has given rise to the names of many American places, objects, institutions and companies, including the District of Columbia; Columbia, South Carolina; Columbia University; "Hail, Columbia"; Columbia Rediviva; and the Columbia River. Images of the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World, erected in 1886) largely displaced personified Columbia as the female symbol of the United States by around 1920, although Lady Liberty was seen as an aspect of Columbia. Columbia's most prominent display today is as part of the logo of the Hollywood film studio Columbia Pictures.
Columbia is a Neo-Latin toponym, in use since the 1730s with reference to the Thirteen Colonies which formed 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).
Columbia is usually depicted unaccompanied in illustrations and appears as a goddess-like human. She is portrayed with auburn, brown, and sometimes black hair, usually wears simple white garment, draped in the American flag, or wearing some other dress with different colors. She's often illustrated with a liberty cap and holding an American flag, and sometimes wielding a shield with the coat of arms of the United States on it. She is also known as "Miss Columbia", implying that she's unmarried.
Personification of the Americas
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.
Official source
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