Statue of Liberty

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Initially the torch installed in its hand was copper, but later on it was replaced with a gold torch. The green colour of the statue is due to the weather, as copper (base of Statue of Liberty) changes its colour in open air. The dress she wore is known as stola and her cloak is called palla (22, Hess). Liberty is also wearing sandals, as if she is ready to move around and share the light of freedom torch. Her crown resembles to a halo and it has seven rays, which depicts seven continents of the world and 25 windows in her crown have been considered the symbolic representation of precious gemstones of Earth (Christie). The rays on her crown are also an inspiration from Greek God, who had been illuminating rays of Sun from his halo.

The illuminating 46 m long torch in the hand of Liberty has been associated with the idea of shedding light in the world. The gold torch reflects sunlight in the daytime and at night spreads the light with 16 floodlights. The broken chain close to her feet symbolizes freedom from slavery and oppression and also elimination of racism and bigotry. Nevertheless, with her left feet forward she is depicted to walk around the Earth to share the light of freedom and enlightenment with the poor and needy (25, Hess).

The torch of the Liberty “the enlightenment rays” have never been extinguished except for few significant occasions. After its inauguration in 1886, it has been briefly quenched off during the World War II. The extinguishment was supposed to portray “Civil Defence” act, which was notably observed by the whole world (Globalmountainsummit.org).

Statue of Liberty has been extensively associated to immigrants, because millions of immigrants entered into USA in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century for the sake of prosperity and equality. Statue of Liberty represented a cast and creed free developing society, where the key to success was effort and skill and not the ancestral background. “Liberty Enlightening the World” has been a symbol of friendship, development, abolition of slavery, awakening from oppression and bigotry with freedom to prosper as significant human beings.

Work Cited:

Centre, UNESCO. 'Statue Of Liberty - UNESCO World Heritage Centre'. Whc.unesco.org. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

Christie, Sophie. 'Statue Of Liberty: 50 Fascinating Facts - Telegraph'. Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

GreatBuildings,. 'Statue Of Liberty By Frederic Bartholdi At Greatbuildings'. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

Globalmountainsummit.org,. 'Statue Of Liberty'. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

Hess, Debra. The Statue of Liberty. New York: Benchmark Books, 2004. Print.

Chan, Sewell. “Statue of Libert’s Crown Will Reopen July”. The New York Times. N.d., Web. May 2009.

Libertyellisfoundation.org,. 'About The Statue Of Liberty - The Statue Of Liberty & Ellis Island'. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

Khan, Yasmin S. Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010. Print.

Sutherland, Cara A. The Statue of Liberty. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2003. Print.