“Rule, Britannia!” is a British patriotic song, originating from a poem written by James Thomson (a Scottish writer) and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740. It was originally included in a masque about the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great, but the song soon developed an independent life of its own.
When the Roman Empire conquered the island, they named it Britannia, and the inhabitants were then known as Britons. In the 2nd century Britannia came to be personified as a goddess, wearing a helmet and a toga, and armed with trident and shield.
The Latin form was revived following the Acts of Union in 1707, and the personification of the martial Britannia was used as an emblem of British imperial power and unity.
“Britannia” is also the name of the former Royal Yacht of Queen Elizabeth II, now permanently moored as an exhibition ship at Edinburgh, Scotland.
