NARRATIVE: Before Lady Liberty became our nation's mascot, Lady Columbia reigned for two centuries as the emblem of a developing democracy. Early types of personification of the Americas depicted as a woman were seen in European art starting in the 16th century. Her original name of "Columbina" appeared in poems, sermons and essays.

In the early 18th century, she became known as “Columbia,” and was portrayed often in political cartoons, posters and newspapers as a neoclassical goddess. She's been stylized in many ways and is usually holding various objects such as an olive branch, a sword, laurel wreath, shield or torch as metphors representing justice, peace, hope and victory. Lady Columbia often wore the Phrygian cap, or liberty cap, which originates from the Middle East and came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty.

Her representation has served as an avenging angel, a nurturing mother figure, disciplinarian, and even a symbol of Manifest Destiny. Lady Columbia's strong imagery spread across the country, especially after the American Revolution, as she came to embody the nation’s aspirations and ambitions.