Symbolism & Identity in Elizabeth I’s Portraits: Decoding the Queen

Queen Elizabeth I’s portraits are full of symbolism. Symbolism has always been an essential aspect of propaganda. As an unmarried Protestant woman in a position of power, Elizabeth needed to find ways to show her power as Queen. Her personal history, such as her mother’s downfall and other societal factors, could have posed an extreme risk to her reign and safety. Images were a powerful tool to ensure that her throne would be safely secured throughout her reign.

Queen Elizabeth I knew she needed to be taken seriously as a woman on the throne, but to do so in 16th-century England was no easy task. She knew that her subjects would have preferred a male ruler, so she needed to harness her power where she could to ensure her safety. Creating an image in which she could portray herself as a powerful and capable ruler, or whatever particular message she was trying to send, was a useful tool. Propaganda could strengthen her position and power, and make others less likely to question her right to the throne.

In the 16th century, England was in the midst of religious upheaval. Protestantism had spread to England during her father’s reign. Henry VIII had broken away from the Roman Catholic Church in an attempt to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in favor of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother. When the Catholic Pope would not grant him an annulment, he created the Church of England and put himself at the top as Head of the Anglican Church. This second marriage would usher Princess Elizabeth into the world, but her time with her mother would be cut short after the Queen’s notorious execution by beheading in 1536.

After Henry VIII’s death, the throne went to his son, Edward VI, as planned. However, after a short reign with no heirs, Edward died. He made changes to the line of succession in his will, giving the throne to Lady Jane Grey, but a change in succession needed to go through proper legal channels, not simply a last-minute addition to a monarch’s will. A teenage and reluctant Jane Grey served as Queen of England for only nine days before Mary I deposed her and had her executed. After Mary I died childless, Elizabeth took the throne and became Queen Elizabeth I. She had the throne and needed to figure out how to keep it.

This portrait shows a young Elizabeth I from before she became Queen. It is housed at Hever Castle in Kent, where her mother grew up. She is dressed in black cloth with gold embroidery. The fur is ermine, a symbol of royalty, meaning she was probably already added back into the line of succession when it was painted.

With her parents’ marriage being declared null before her mother’s death, she was technically a bastard. To make matters worse, she was Protestant. Her entire reign rested upon the legitimacy of the Church of England, which made her parents’ marriage possible in the first place, due to her father’s previous marriage to Catherine of Aragon within the Catholic faith. This meant that she had to present herself as a legitimate Protestant Queen, no matter her personal beliefs.

This happened during a time of religious conflict, as the Catholics who had felt their country restored under the Catholic Mary I were now nervous under this new Protestant Queen. She showed a surprising amount of religious tolerance, but it was a fine line when her rule rested upon the kingdom’s religion. If Protestantism lost control in England, she would be considered an illegitimate and heretical Queen.

As a woman and a Protestant, she was already treading uncharted territory regarding Queenship. Now, she would face the pressure to marry, which would effectively give her power to her husband. In 16th-century society, a woman was expected to obey her husband, no matter her rank or birthright. After years of courting others to establish herself as a legitimate Queen on the European stage, she declared herself to be married to England itself instead. Although controversial then, this decision allowed her to maintain her power.

In this posthumous depiction from 1682, Elizabeth is seen in Parliament. She is positioned in the middle, the most important figure, marked as Queen by the symbolism surrounding her. She sits under a canopy, reserved for royal family members, holding the scepter and orb. Members of Parliament surround her, and the scene is stately in its order, indicating she was viewed as a Queen who brought peace, order, and stability.

Monarchs have historically put their images onto coins. This was often the only way a monarch’s subjects would see them. Elizabeth I famously depicted herself as young throughout her entire reign, with coins minted during her time as Queen being a prime example. This gold was minted in 1594-96 when Elizabeth would have been in her sixties. She was under extra scrutiny concerning her health, not only because she was a woman and needed to prove herself capable, but also because she had decided not to marry. The Virgin Queen would leave no heir, nor had she named who was next in the line for the throne. As her age climbed in number, so did the anxiety surrounding succession. It was more important than ever to appear youthful, capable, and strong.

In 1588, the Spanish attempted to invade England with their newly built armada, which consisted of 150 ships and 18,000 men. In the 16th century, this was one of the biggest fleets Europe had ever seen, and it was headed for the tiny island of Britain. Today, England is known for its political power, especially from the earlier eras of colonialism. However, in the 16th century, when exploration was just beginning, England was considered a small kingdom on the fringes of European power. A large fleet of ships from a Catholic superpower like Spain would have been a frightening idea for Protestant England.

As the New World became more pressing politically, Spain began to see England as a competitor. They had been claiming the indigenous land of what is now South and Central America, while England had gone further north into today’s New England and Canada. With this tension already at a boiling point, the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots—who was allied with the Spanish and was caught plotting against Elizabeth I—and the English support for the Protestant Netherlands who wanted out from under Catholic Spanish control, pushed the Spanish to take action.

Before the Spanish ships even left Spain, they encountered a massive storm that caused extensive damage to their ships. Repairs were done before they left, but eventually, they made their way up the English Channel. The English ships were able to outmaneuver them due to the way they were built. They were skinnier and lower to the water, making them faster and less likely to capsize. The sides of the ships were lower as well, allowing more opportunities for sending gunfire towards the enemy.

The English defeated the Spanish Armada in an impressive victory, which was commemorated with Elizabeth I’s Armada Portrait. After days of cannon fire back and forth, the English decided to send burning ships into the tightly packed group of Spanish vessels outside of the harbor. The Spanish knew these would be detrimental to their ships, so they left. However, the English had blocked them in the English Channel, and the Spanish were forced to go North so that they could go around and return home by going past the West coast of Ireland. They thought they could stop in Ireland, due to both nations being Catholic, to restock their supplies for the journey home. They were wrong. Upon landing south of Galway, any men who stepped off of the boat were killed. Losses on the Irish coast account for a third of the total ships lost.

In the Armada Portrait, the Queen is seated in the middle, dressed sumptuously, and surrounded by some typical symbols. Pearls drip from her neck, symbolizing her purity as the Virgin Queen. Her dress is dyed a rich, dark black, something only the wealthy could afford. Her lace ruff is larger than life around her neck, which indicates status and fashionable taste according to the era’s styles.

She holds a fan made of feathers in her left hand, while her right hand rests upon a globe. Her finger points to Virginia, the newly established colony in North America, named after her nickname of Virgin Queen. This indicates her confidence on the world stage. She faces the window that shows calm seas, with boats floating prettily on the waves. In the window behind her, a storm creates trouble for the Spanish ships. This sends the message that she brings calm waters to England, and that God saw fit to ruin Spain’s invasion plans.

Symbols could range in meaning and purpose. Pearls symbolize purity and virginity and are almost always present in artwork depicting Elizabeth I, especially after she became known as the Virgin Queen. Black and white are often used as a color scheme within her portraits as well, as they symbolize chastity and loyalty, according to the modern institution of Royal Museums Greenwich. Other symbols used in portraits of Elizabeth include dogs that refer to fidelity, columns that allude to rising classical values and their perceived ties to refinement amongst the aristocracy, crowns that symbolize the power of the monarch over the realm, and the Tudor Rose as the official symbol for the dynasty.

There are also various animals like phoenixes that refer to resurrection and endurance, pelicans that stand for motherly love towards her subjects, ermines for royalty and purity, and more. Moons also alluded to her virginity, due to their ancient associations with Artemis, or Diana, who was a virgin goddess and protector of women. Athena, or Minerva, too, could be used as a symbol of virginity, good war strategy, or support for the arts. Olives represented peace, bones and skeletons represented death, and gloves represented elegance.

Queen Elizabeth I’s use of imagery used as propaganda has left a lasting legacy as a patroness of the arts. Her countless commissions not only helped her maintain her power as the Queen of England through the use of symbolism to present herself as strong and capable, but those commissions exist today to shed light on a time period that could otherwise be fairly dark. The paintings of the 16th century tell the story of how Elizabeth needed to be viewed to remain safe on her throne.