USA the Spirit of Old Glory

USA was Quality’s second lady super-hero, behind Lady Luck (though USA was their first super-powered heroine and the first to appear in an anthology title). She was clearly inspired by the early American icon called Miss Columbia. Columbia was once a patriotic symbol as prevalent as Uncle Sam, but has since lapsed into some obscurity. (In fact, Columbia appears as a character in DC’s two-issue Uncle Sam.)

As flag-adorned heroines go, USA predated Wonder Woman by about six months, and Quality’s own Miss America by several months.

USA was, like Uncle Sam, the embodiment of an American ideal. As a young girl, she was alive in 1777 and witnessed Betsy Ross’ creation of the new flag. Afterwards, she grew ill, but she carried some threads from that first flag in a locket. The locket was buried with her when she died. In 1941, the locket was unearthed and when opened, USA was borne! With her magic flag and torch of liberty, she showed European loyalists the errors of their fealty. (Feature #42)

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