John Bull is a national personification of the United Kingdom, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter-of-fact man. He originated in satirical works of the early 18th century and would come to stand for "English liberty" in opposition to revolutionaries. He was popular through the 18th and 19th centuries until the time of the First World War, when he generally stopped being seen as representative of the "common man".
World War I recruiting poster
An earlier John Bull in which he is depicted as an anthropomorphic bull
John Bull holds the head of Napoleon Bonaparte in an 1803 caricature by James Gillray.
A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda.
Britannia arm-in-arm with Uncle Sam symbolizes the British-American alliance in World War I. The two animals, the Bald eagle and the Barbary lion, are also national personifications of the two countries.
The Liberty of Oudiné in memory of the Argentine centenary of the May Revolution (1810-1910).
An early example of national personification in a gospel book dated 990: Sclavinia, Germania, Gallia, and Roma, bringing offerings to Emperor Otto III.
Italia und Germania (1828) by Johann Friedrich Overbeck.
