Nelle prime personificazioni nel mondo occidentale si impiegavano divinità guerriere o figure simbolo di saggezza (ad esempio la dea Atena in Grecia), a indicare la forza e il potere della nazione. Spesso i nomi derivano da quelli latini delle province romane: casi tipici sono Britannia, Germania e Helvetia.
^ Eric Hobsbawm, Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870-1914, in Eric Hobsbawm e Terence Ranger (a cura di), The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge, 1983, pp. 263-307.
«Zé Povinho is a peronofication of the Portuguese working class; Eu Nacional, the national self, is a personification of the Portugal to come; Lusitania, from the Roman name for the region, is a personification of Portugal; and Répubblica, an effeùigy of the republic, is a national personification symbolizing the republic.»
^(EN) Origins. The Female Form as Allegory, su xroads.virginia.edu, America Studies at the University of Virginia. URL consultato il 4 ottobre 2015 (archiviato dall'url originale il 23 ottobre 2019).
^(EN) Symbols. Lady Liberty's Male Relations, su xroads.virginia.edu, America Studies at the University of Virginia. URL consultato il 4 ottobre 2015 (archiviato dall'url originale il 23 ottobre 2019).
^(EN) Elisabeth J. Friedman, Unfinished Transitions: Women and the Gendered Development of Democracy in Venezuela, 1936-1996, Penn State Press, 2010, p. 64, ISBN978-0-271-04259-6.
«Juan Bimba is a cartoon character who symbolizes "Mr. Ordinary Citizen, who in Venezuela is an illiterate peon" (Ferguson 1939, 65). While AD often used him in early campaigns to represent the average citizen whom it was going to empower, Juan Bimba ramanis today in Venezuelan political cartoons a caricature of the most victimized citizens - whose oppressors now include the political parties.»
Bibliografia
(EN) James B. Minahan, The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems, ABC-CLIO, 2009, ISBN978-0-313-34497-8.
(EN) Karel Kriz, William Cartwright, Michaela Kinberger (a cura di), Understanding Different Geographies, Springer Science & Business Media, 2012, ISBN978-3-642-29769-4.
(EN) Stefan Berger, Linas Eriksonas, Andrew Mycock (a cura di), Narrating The Nation: Representations in History, Media and the Arts, Berghahn Books, 2013, ISBN978-0-85745-412-6.