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Saturday 20 July 2013

Sepia Saturday 186;


Helvetia 
is the female national personification of Switzerland, officially Confœderatio Helvetica, the Swiss Confederation.




Helvetia on the right with Geneva; National monument in Geneva Switzerland.


The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing gown, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Swiss flag, and commonly with braided hair, commonly with a wreath as a symbol of confederation. The name is a derivation of the ethnonym Helvetii, the name of the Gaulish tribe inhabiting the Swiss Plateau prior to the Roman conquest.



Old stamp;





Swiss money;


The Swiss Confederation continues to use the name in its Latin form.  The  name Helvetia appears on postage stamps, coins and other uses; the full name, ConfÅ“deratio Helvetica, is abbreviated for uses such as on vehicle registration codes,  CH.


 Switzerland = CH

A modern Helvetia!



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14 comments:

  1. A very good post for the theme and interesting for me to know her history.

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  2. Diane, I am sure you passed her many times, when you spend time in Switzerland.

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  3. Those Romans were everywhere.

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  4. Isn't that funny...when you say Helvetica - all I can think of is a kind of lino-type or font.

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  5. A fascinating post with great images. I knew the name Helvetia for Switzerland from stamp collecting days, but knew nothing of its origin, so I learnt something too!

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  6. Like Sue, I know the name from stamp collecting days, but I'm struck by the similarity with Britannia.

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  7. Helvetia (in her statue) seems to be wearing an innovative undergarment made from seashells...or something. Looks uncomfortable. Was the typeface (helvetica)named for her?

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  8. The names remind me of the font types we have.

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  9. Stunning statue! Quite interesting, and I've again learned new things.

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  10. I have to say the same as Little Nell - Helvetia, Britannia, Boudica, Marianne .. they all seem very similar traditions

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  11. I am discovering so much this weekend about female personifications of states. What a good theme it was.

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  12. A really interesting turn on the iconic woman. It made me look up "National personification" on Wikipedia where I was surprised at how many nations have a female figure to represent the concept of nation,

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  13. The subject of female personifications of "nation" is more interesting than I would have thought it could be. And whoever created all these statues around the world must have used the same model.

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