Editing Britannia (section)

=== Renaissance and British Empire ===

{{Multiple image
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| image1            = Reception of the American Loyalists.jpg
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| caption1          = ''Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain in the Year 1783'' engraved by [[Henry Moses (engraver)|Henry Moses]] after [[Benjamin West]]. [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]] seek aid from Britannia after their expulsion from the [[United States]].
| image2            = GillrayBritannia.jpg
| caption2          = ''Britannia between Scylla and Charybdis'' by [[James Gillray]] (1793). [[William Pitt the Younger]], [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], steers the ship ''[[Constitution of the United Kingdom|Constitution]]'' carrying Britannia.
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It was during the reign of [[Elizabeth I]] that "Britannia" again came to be used as a [[personification]] of Britain. In his 1576 "General and rare memorials pertayning to the Perfect Arte of Navigation", [[John Dee]] used a [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] figure of Britannia kneeling by the shore beseeching Elizabeth I, to protect her empire by strengthening her navy.<ref name=":2" />

With the death of Elizabeth in 1603 came the succession of her Scottish cousin, James VI, King of Scots, to the English throne. He became James I of England, and so brought under his personal rule the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of England|England]] (and the dominion of Wales), [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]] and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]. On 20 October 1604, [[James VI and I]] proclaimed himself as "King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland", a title that continued to be used by many of his successors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/britstyles.htm#1604|title=Royal Arms, Styles, and Titles of Great Britain|first=Francois|last=Velde|website=heraldica.org}}</ref> When James came to the English throne, some elaborate pageants were staged. One pageant performed on the streets of London in 1605 was described in [[Anthony Munday]]'s ''Triumphs of Reunited Britannia'':
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[File:50PREVISEDBRITANNIA.jpg|thumb|Britannia on a 50p coin.]] -->

<blockquote>On a mount triangular, as the island of Britain itself is described to be, we seat in the supreme place, under the shape of a fair and beautiful nymph, Britannia herself...</blockquote>

Britain's first road atlas was updated in a series of editions titled from the early 18th into the early 19th century using the title ''[[Britannia Depicta]]''.

During the reign of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], Britannia made her first appearance on English coins on a [[Farthing (British coin)|farthing]] of 1672 (see ''Depiction on British coinage and postage stamps'' below). With the constitutional unification of England with Scotland in 1707 and then with Ireland in 1800, Britannia became an increasingly important symbol and a strong rallying point among Britons.

British power, which depended on a liberal political system and the supremacy of the [[Royal Navy|navy]], lent these attributes to the image of Britannia. By the time of [[Queen Victoria]], Britannia had been renewed. Still depicted as a young woman with brown or golden hair, she kept her [[Corinthian helmet]] and her white robes, but now she held [[Neptune's trident]] and often sat or stood before the ocean and tall-masted ships representing British naval power. She also usually held or stood beside a Greek [[hoplite]] shield, which sported the British [[Union Flag]]: also at her feet was often the British Lion, an animal found on the arms of England, Scotland and the Prince of Wales.

[[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] is shown symbolically passing his trident to Britannia in the 1847 fresco "Neptune Resigning to Britannia the Empire of the Sea" by [[William Dyce]], a painting Victoria commissioned for her [[Osborne House]] on the [[Isle of Wight]].

[[File:Triple Entente.jpg|thumb|left|1914 Russian poster depicting the [[Triple Entente]] – Britannia (right) and [[Marianne]] (left) flank [[Mother Russia]], with Britannia's association with the sea provided by an [[anchor]]]]

New Zealanders adopted a similar personification of their country in [[Zealandia (personification)|Zealandia]], Britannia's daughter, who appeared on postage stamps at the turn of the 20th century<ref>[http://stampsnz.com/1901_penny_universal.html 1901 Penny Universal], Stamps NZ. Retrieved 25 January 2010.</ref> and still features in the [[New Zealand Coat of Arms]].<ref>[http://www.ngw.nl/int/nzl/nz-nat.htm National Coat of Arms of New Zealand] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205000745/http://www.ngw.nl/int/nzl/nz-nat.htm |date=5 December 2010 }}, Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 25 January 2010.</ref>

Perhaps the best analogy is that Britannia is to the United Kingdom and the [[British Empire]] what [[Marianne]] is to France or perhaps what [[Columbia (name)|Columbia]] is to the United States. Britannia became a very potent and more common figure in times of war, and represented British liberties and democracy.