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Helvetia () is the female
national personification A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations o ...
of Switzerland, officially ''Confoederatio Helvetica,'' the Swiss Confederation. The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing gown, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the
Swiss flag The national flag of Switzerland (german: Schweizerfahne; french: drapeau de la Suisse; it, bandiera svizzera; rm, bandiera da la Svizra) displays a white cross in the centre of a square red field. The white cross is known as the Swiss cross ...
, and commonly with braided hair, commonly with a wreath as a symbol of confederation. The name is a derivation of the ethnonym ''
Helvetii The Helvetii ( , Gaulish: *''Heluētī''), anglicized as Helvetians, were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. According to Juliu ...
'', the name of the
Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerl ...
tribe inhabiting the
Swiss Plateau The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau (german: Schweizer Mittelland; french: plateau suisse; it, altopiano svizzero) is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland, lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of ...
before the Roman conquest.


History

The fashion of depicting the Swiss Confederacy in terms of female allegories arises in the 17th century. This replaces an earlier convention, popular in the 1580s, of representing Switzerland as a bull (''Schweizer Stier''). In the first half of the 17th century, there was not a single allegory identified as ''Helvetia''. Rather, a number of allegories were shown, representing both virtues and vices of the confederacy. On the title page of his 1642 ''Topographia'', Matthäus Merian shows two allegorical figures seated below the title panel: one is the figure of an armed '' Eidgenosse'', representing Swiss military prowess and sovereignty, the other is a female ''Abundantia'' allegory crowned with a city's ramparts. Female allegories of individual cantons predate the single ''Helvetia'' figure. There are depictions of a ''Respublica Tigurina Virgo'' (1607), a ''Lucerna'' shown in 1658 with the victor of
Villmergen Villmergen is a municipality in the district of Bremgarten in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Two famous battles took place at Villmergen. In 2010 Hilfikon merged into Villmergen.Christoph Pfyffer Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzenhofe ...
, and a ''Berna'' of 1682. Over the next half-century, Merian's ''Abundantia'' would develop into the figure of ''Helvetia'' proper. An oil painting of 1677/78 from Solothurn, known as ''Libertas Helvetiae'', shows a female ''Libertas'' allegory standing on a pillar. In 1672, an oil painting by Albrecht Kauw shows a number of figures labelled ''Helvetia moderna''. These represent vices such as ''Voluptas'' and ''Avaritia'', contrasting with the virtues of ''Helvetia antiqua'' (not shown in the painting). On 14 September 1672, a monumental baroque play by Johann Caspar Weissenbach was performed in
Zug Zug ( Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo rm, Zug New Latin: ''Tugium'')named in the 16th century is the largest town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug in Switzerland. Its name originates from the fishing vocabulary ...
, entitled ''Eydtgnossisch Contrafeth Auff- und Abnemmender Jungfrawen Helvetiae''. The play is full of allegories illustrating the raise of ''Helvetia'' and her decadence after the Reformation. In the 4th act, the ''Abnemmende Helvetiae'' or "Waning Helvetia" is faced with ''Atheysmus'' and ''Politicus'' while the old virtues leave her. In the final scene, Christ himself appears to punish the wayward damsel, but the Mother of God and
Bruder Klaus Bruder may refer to: People Bruder is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aimee Bruder (born 1974), American Paralympic swimmer * Charles Bruder, a victim of the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 * Christian Bruder (born 1982 ...
intercede and the contrite sinner is pardoned. Identification of the Swiss as "Helvetians" (''Hélvetiens'') becomes common in the 18th century, particularly in the French language, as in François-Joseph-Nicolas d'Alt de Tieffenthal's very patriotic ''Histoire des Hélvetiens'' (1749–53) followed by Alexander Ludwig von Wattenwyl's ''Histoire de la Confédération hélvetique'' (1754). Helvetia appears in patriotic and political artwork in the context of the construction of a national history and identity in the early 19th century, after the disintegration of the Napoleonic
Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, m ...
, and she appears on official federal coins and stamps from the foundation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848.


Name of Switzerland

The Swiss Confederation continues to use the name in its Latin form when it is inappropriate or inconvenient to use any or all of its four official languages. Thus, the name appears on postage stamps, coins and other uses; the full name, ''Confœderatio Helvetica'', is abbreviated for uses such as the
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of ...
and vehicle registration code CH, and the
ccTLD A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all t ...
,
.ch .ch is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Switzerland in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Made available in 1987, only two years after .com, it is administered by SWITCH Information Technology Services. The domain ''ch'', as ...
. Notably, translations of the term Helvetia still serve as the name for Switzerland in languages such as
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
, in which the country is known as ''An Eilvéis'', Greek, in which it is known as ''Ελβετία (Elvetia)'' and
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
, in which it is known as Elveția. In
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
''Elvezia'' is seen as archaic, but the
demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
noun/adjective ''elvetico'' is used commonly as synonym of ''svizzero''. In
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, Swiss people may be referred to as ''Helvètes''. The German word ''Helvetien'' is used as well as synonym of ''Schweiz'' and has a higher poetic value. ''Helvetien'' is also more common in Germany; the German-speaking Swiss use simply "Helvetia" or "Helvecia" as poetic synonyms for their country.


Gallery

File:Geneve jardin Anglais 2011-09-13 13 50 00 PICT4755.JPG, Helvetia (right) with "Geneva" (monument in Geneva). File:Picswiss BS-53-07.jpg, Helvetia auf Reisen ("Helvetia on her travels"), statue in
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...
. File:Bern Bundeshaus Skulpturengruppe.jpg, Statue of Helvetia on the Federal Palace of Switzerland,
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , websit ...
. Image:Stamp Switzerland 1881 25c.jpg, Helvetia on a 25 centime Swiss postage stamp, 1881. File:Switzerland 600th Anniversary Celebration Medal 1891 in France by Dubois, obverse.jpg, Helvetia flying over Lake Lucerne on a medal for the 600th Anniversary of Switzerland 1891 by Alphée Dubois, obverse File:Stamp Switzerland 1910 10c tb pair.jpg, The Swiss stamps bear the indication "Helvetia" to indicate Switzerland.


See also

*
Coins of the Swiss franc The coins of the Swiss franc are the official coins used in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The name of the subunit is ''centime'' in French and internationally, ''Rappen'' in German, ''centesimo'' in Italian, and ''rap'' in Romansh. There are ...
*
Historiography of Switzerland The historiography of Switzerland is the study of the history of Switzerland. Early accounts of the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy are found in the numerous Swiss chronicles of the 14th to 16th centuries. As elsewhere in Europe, these l ...
*
Name of Switzerland The English name of ''Switzerland'' is a compound containing ''Switzer'', an obsolete term for the Swiss, which was in use during the 16th to 19th centuries. The English adjective ''Swiss'' is a loan from French ', also in use since the 16th centu ...
*
National personification A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations o ...
*
Postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland. History The first stamps used in Switzerland were issued by the cantons of Zürich (1843), Geneva (1843) and Basel (1845) for their own use, with the first federal ...
*
Vreneli Vreneli (aka Goldvreneli) is the informal name for a range of legal tender gold coins of the Swiss franc. The coins were issued between 1897 and 1936, in 1947 and in 1949. All coins issued after 1936 are restrikes (legal tender ceased September ...
* William Tell


References


Bibliography

* Gianni Haver, ''L'image de la Suisse'', collection « Comprendre », Éditions loisirs et pédagogie, 2011, 128 pages (). * Gianni Haver, ''Dame à l'antique avec lance et bouclier: Helvetia et ses Déclinaisons'', in M.-O.Gonseth, B. Knodel, Y. Laville and G. Mayor (editors), ''Hors-champs. Eclats du patrimoine culturel immatériel'',
Musée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel The Musée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel (MEN) is a museum of ethnography in Neuchâtel, Switzerland established in 1904. The collections consist of 50,000 objects from all regions of the world, with about half from Africa. The MEN is well know for ...
, 2013, pages 274-282. * Thomas Maissen,
Von wackeren alten Eidgenossen und souveränen Jungfrauen. Zu Datierung und Deutung der frühesten Helvetia-Darstellungen
'' Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte 56 (1999), 265-302. *kibre negest (ክብረ ነገስት) dice 'Helvetia e una località di impero Romana.pp347 bid {{Authority control Swiss culture National personifications Fictional Swiss people Philatelic terminology Philately of Switzerland