I am reading McCullough's "1776." He was talking about how patriotic England was at that time, with 2 anthems, "God Save the King" and "Rule Britannia."
Do we still use the word "Britannia?" It is the female personification of Great Britain?
The original personification was on Roman coins, with some of the attributes of the later representation. The modern one is based on one of Charles II's mistresses. She's been used on the coins ever since: formerly on the old cartwheel penny (the big one introduced in the 1790s), and with decimalization she's been on the 50p. She is seated, wearing a helmet, and carrying a trident and olive branch. At her feet are a lion and a shield with (oddly) the flag on it. If I recall rightly, the lion was introduced onto Victorian coins by combining traditional Britannia imagery with Una and the lion from The Faerie Queene.
The name is often used for various things, including the last royal yacht, recently retired, and the "Cool Britannia" campaign.
Originally posted by aput: The original personification was on Roman coins, with some of the attributes of the later representation. The modern one is based on one of Charles II's mistresses. She's been used on the coins ever since: formerly on the old cartwheel penny (the big one introduced in the 1790s), and with decimalization she's been on the 50p. She is seated, wearing a helmet, and carrying a trident and olive branch. At her feet are a lion and a shield with (oddly) the flag on it. If I recall rightly, the lion was introduced onto Victorian coins by combining traditional Britannia imagery with Una and the lion from The Faerie Queene.
The name is often used for various things, including the last royal yacht, recently retired, and the "Cool Britannia" campaign.
For pictures of the various depictions of Britannia, see here.
For the words of Rule Britannia, see here and you can listen to a sound clip of the first verse and chorus here although, as a singer myself, I don't like her phrasing. Her voice is pleasant but, like nearly all "popular" singers, she breathes in all the wrong places and thus loses the sense of the words .
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