Britannia is one of the national emblems of Britain.
Britannia first took on the form of a person when her image appeared on coins issued in Britain under the Roman emperor Hadrian, which were labelled with the word BRITANNIA. She was usually shown seated on a rock, holding a spear, and with a spiked shield propped beside her. Sometimes she holds a standard, and leans on the shield. On another range of coinage, she is seated on a globe above waves: Britain at the edge of the known world. Similar coin types were also issued under Antoninus Pius.
Roman usage on the coin derives from the name given to the islands by the Romans. The Emperor Claudius paid a visit while Britain was being pacified and was honored with the agnomen Britannicus just as if he were the conqueror. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the name Britannia largely fell into abeyance.
In the Renaissance tradition, Britannia came to be viewed as the personification of Britain, in imagery that was developed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. When James I came to the 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:
- 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...
Britannia first appeared on the farthing in 1672, followed by the halfpenny later the same year, on the penny coin between 1797 and 1970, and on the 50 pence coin since 1969.
When the Bank of England was granted a charter in 1694, the directors decided within days that the device for their official seal should represent "Brittannia sitting on looking on a Bank of Mony" (sic) [1].
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