Columbia The Eagle

Columbia the Eagle was named by Mary West Traylor.

In 1782, the bald eagle was accepted as the national emblem of the United States, but America as we know it has collected many names and emblems since then, each conveying symbolism to the idea of our country’s significance.

Long before The Star Spangled Banner celebrated America as “the land of the free”, another song was regarded as an unofficial national anthem, Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean. The name Columbia is a poetic personification of the United States, many times depicted as a goddess, and imbuing everyone in her care with divine protection and endorsement. In Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean, Columbia is described as victorious through battle:

When war wing’d its wide desolation,

And threaten’d the land to deform,

The ark then of freedom’s foundation,

Columbia rode safe thro’ the storm;

With her garlands of vict’ry around her,

When so proudly she bore her brave crew;

With her flag proudly waving before her,

When borne by the red, white, and blue.

With her flag proudly floating before her,

The boast of the red, white and blue.

Echoing the same reverence, poet Phillis Wheatley uses Columbia to refer to the United States in her noted work His Excellency General Washington, where she reflects on scenes in the American Revolution. Wheatley’s work is considered fundamental to African-American literature. She was the first African American to publish a book of poetry.

The poem opens with:

Celestial choir! enthron’d in realms of light,

Columbia’s scenes of glorious toils I write.

While freedom’s cause her anxious breast alarms,

She flashes dreadful in refulgent arms.

Both references invoke ideas of beauty and strength in patriotism, just as the bald eagle is another symbol of the United States. What else can you think of when you think of ‘Columbia’? What are other symbols of the United States that come to mind?

Did you know that there is a connection to Phillis Wheatley, right here in San Antonio? What is now known as Young Men’s Leadership Academy at Wheatley was originally known as Wheatley High School, which opened in 1933 for African American students, and was named after Phillis Wheatley to honor her legacy.