First imagined by the French historian Édouard de Laboulaye in 1865, Lady Liberty was created from a desire to represent an alliance between America and France.

De Laboulaye then channeled his love for democracy and freedom into the Statue of Liberty, whose original name was Liberty Enlightening the World.

Lady Liberty’s original color was that of a new penny; the greenish-blue is a result of years of weathering.

Regarding Lady Liberty’s face, some historians theorize that it was adapted from a statue Bartholdi had proposed for another of his works: a statue of an Egyptian woman.

Over the years, historians have presented and disputed countless interpretations of Lady Liberty’s meaning.