A victory column is a monument in the form of a column, erected in memory of a victorious war or battle. The column stands on a base and is crowned with a victory symbol in the form of a statue. The statue may represent the goddess Victoria; in Germany, the female embodiment of the nation, Germania; in the United States either female embodiment of the nation Liberty or Columbia; in the United Kingdom, the female embodiment Britannia; an eagle; or a war hero.
Famous victory columns include:
- Trajan's Column, Rome, Italy
- Column of Antoninus Pius, Rome, Italy
- Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome, Italy
- Column of Justinian, Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey)
- Alexander Column, Palace Square, Saint Petersburg
- Berlin victory column, Berlin, Germany
- Blenheim Column of Victory, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, U.K..
- Boston Soldiers and Sailors Column, Boston, Massachusetts
- Columna de la Independencia, Mexico City, Mexico
- Hakenberg Victory Column, Hakenberg near Fehrbellin, Germany
- Nelson's Column, London, United Kingdom
- Rotonda de Hombres Ilustres, Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
- Victory column, Altona, Hamburg, Germany
- Victory column, Nürnberg, Germany
- Victory column, Place Vendôme, Paris, France
- War of Independence Victory Column: (Estonian: Vabadussõja Võidusammas), Tallinn, Estonia
Famous quotes containing the words victory and/or column:
“It must be a peace without victory.... Victory would mean peace forced upon the losers, a victor’s terms imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which the terms of peace would rest, not permanently, but only as upon quicksand.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“I stand on top
of our back steps and breathe the rich air—
a mother skunk with her column of kittens swills the garbage pail.
She jabs her wedge-head in a cup
of sour cream, drops her ostrich tail,
and will not scare.”
—Robert Lowell (1917–1977)