HK Central Statue Square Legislative Council Building n Themis s

Lady Justice ( la, Iustitia) is an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia. Lady Justice originates from the personification of Justice in Ancient Roman art known as ''Iustitia'' or ''Justitia'', who is equivalent to the Greek goddess Dike.

The goddess Justitia

The origin of Lady Justice was Justitia (or Iustitia), the goddess of

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

within

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...

. Justitia was introduced by emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, and was thus not a very old deity in the

Roman pantheon The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek mythology, Greek myths, ancient Greek art, iconography, and sometimes Religion in ancient Greece, ...

. Justice was one of the virtues celebrated by emperor

in his '' clipeus virtutis'', and a temple of Iustitia was established in Rome by emperor Tiberius. Iustitia became a symbol for the virtue of justice with which every emperor wished to associate his regime; emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

minted coins with the image of the goddess seated on a throne called ''Iustitia Augusta'', and many emperors after him used the image of the goddess to proclaim themselves protectors of justice. Though formally called a goddess with her own temple and cult shrine in Rome, it appears that she was from the onset viewed more as an artistic symbolic personification rather than as an actual deity with religious significance.

Depiction

El pesado del corazón en el Papiro de Hunefer

The personification of justice balancing the scales dates back to the goddess Maat, and later

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

, of ancient Egypt. The Hellenic deities

Themis In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; grc, Θέμις, Themis, justice, law, custom) is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, fai ...

and Dike were later goddesses of justice.

was the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom, in her aspect as the personification of the divine rightness of law.

Scales

Lady Justice is most often depicted with a set of scales typically suspended from one hand, upon which she balances the act and consequences of the act to achieve equilibrium and, therefore, justice. The Greek goddess Dike is depicted holding a set of scales:

Blindfold

Since the 16th century, Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold was originally a satirical addition intended to show justice as blind to the injustice carried on before her, but it has been reinterpreted over time and is now understood to represent impartiality, the ideal that justice should be applied without regard to wealth, power, or other status. The earliest Roman coins depicted Justitia with the sword in one hand and the scale in the other, but with her eyes uncovered. Justitia was only commonly represented as "blind" since the middle of the 16th century. The first known representation of blind Justice is Hans Gieng's 1543 statue on the '' Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen'' (Fountain of Justice) in Bern. Instead of using the Janus approach, many sculptures simply leave out the blindfold altogether. For example, atop the Old Bailey courthouse in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, a statue of Lady Justice stands without a blindfold; the courthouse brochures explain that this is because Lady Justice was originally not blindfolded, and because her "maidenly form" is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold redundant. Another variation is to depict a blindfolded Lady Justice as a human scale, weighing competing claims in each hand. An example of this can be seen at the Shelby County Courthouse in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

Sword

The sword represented authority in ancient times, and conveys the idea that justice can be swift and final.

Toga

The Greco-Roman garment symbolizes the status of the philosophical attitude that embodies justice.

In computer systems

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, wh ...

version 4.1.0 implemented a scales symbol at

code point In character encoding terminology, a code point, codepoint or code position is a numerical value that maps to a specific character. Code points usually represent a single grapheme—usually a letter, digit, punctuation mark, or whitespace—but ...

U+2696, that may be used to represent the scales of justice.

In art

Sculpture

File:Berner Iustitia.jpg, Lady Justice with sword, scales and blindfold on the Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen in

Berne Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

, Switzerland—1543 File:A Justica Alfredo Ceschiatti Brasilia Brasil.jpg, ''The Justice'', in front of the

Supreme Court of Brazil The Supreme Federal Court ( pt, Supremo Tribunal Federal, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for const ...

File:Pediment courthouse, Rome, Italy.jpg, Lady Justice seated at the entrance of The Palace of Justice, Rome, Italy File:Justitia1.jpg, Sculpture of Lady Justice on the ' in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, Germany File:Justicia Ottawa.jpg, ''Justitia'', outside the Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada File:Statue of Justice, Central Criminal Court, London, UK - 20030311.jpg, The Central Criminal Court or Old Bailey,

, UK File:Itojyuku themis.jpg, Themis, Itojyuku, Shibuya-ku, Japan File:Justice statue.jpg, 19th-century sculpture of the ''Power of Law'' at

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

—lacks the blindfold and scales of Justice, replacing the latter with a book File:Law place du Palais-Bourbon Paris.jpg, ''The Law'', by Jean Feuchère File:JMR-Memphis1.jpg, Shelby County Courthouse,

, United States File:Goddess of justice.jpg, Themis, outside the Supreme Court of Queensland,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia File:NewarkJustice1.jpg, ''

'' by

Diana Moore Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) ...

, Government Center,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary. File:Fronton oud gerechtsgebouw, Gent.jpg, Themis, Old courthouse,

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, Belgium File:Justice Statue Iran.jpg, ''Justitia'', Tehran courthouse,

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

File:Campinas, detalhe do Palácio da Justiça.jpg, ''Justiça'', high-relief in front of Justice Palace,

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

File:Carl Spitzweg - Das Auge des Gesetzes (Justitia) - 1857.jpg, ,

Carl Spitzweg Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romanticist painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era. Life and career Spitzweg was born in U ...

, 1857

Painting

File:Sala di costantino, giustizia.jpg, Fresco in the ,

Raphael Rooms The four Raphael Rooms ( it, Stanze di Raffaello) form a suite of reception rooms in the Apostolic Palace, now part of the Vatican Museums, in Vatican City. They are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop. Together wit ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

, c. 1520 File:Luca Giordano 013.jpg,

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Earl ...

Palazzo Medici Riccardi The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi after the later family that acquired and expanded it, is a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence and a museum. Overview ...

in Florence, 1684–1686 File:Gerechtigkeit-1537.jpg, ''Gerechtigkeit'',

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...

, 1537

Heraldry

Lady Justice and her symbols are used in heraldry, especially in the arms and

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

s of legal government agencies. DEU Ilshofen COA.svg, Justitia in arms of Ilshofen in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Svea hovrätt vapen.svg, Scales and sword in the arms of a Swedish court of law Hörby kommunvapen - Riksarkivet Sverige.png, Scales balanced on a sword in the arms of Hörby Landskrona fulla vapen.svg, Prudentia and Justitia as supporters in the armorial achievement of Landskrona File:US-Fractional (3rd Issue)-$0.50-Fr.1355.jpg, Justice holding scales, $0.50 U.S. fractional currency.

References

External links

DOJ Seal - History and Motto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Justice Justice goddesses Personifications in Roman mythology Roman goddesses Heraldic charges

The goddess Justitia

Depiction

Scales

Blindfold

Sword

Toga

In computer systems

In art

Sculpture

Painting

Heraldry

See also

Goddesses of Justice and related concepts

Astronomy

Notable programs

In fiction

In popular culture

References

External links