Country Studies

Britannia

The symbol of Britannia has been used for thousands of years, but who was this mythical female warrior, seated on a shield in her Corinthian helmet, holding a trident with the British lion at her side? Britannia was, in fact, the original Latin name given to Great Britain, when it was first occupied by the Romans in AD 43. The Romans made her a goddess and her originally bare-breasted figure, holding a spear, first appeared on a Roman coin 100 years later, during the reign of Antoninus Pius. With the creation of the United Kingdom in 1707, Britannia became the figurehead of British imperial and military power. Now bearing the Union Flag on her shield, she became a more prominent national emblem, linked to the Navy, at a time when Britannia did indeed “rule the waves”.