In 1822, Pedro I was enthroned as emperor of newly independent Brazil. The backdrop curtain for the coronation, reproduced in a print by Regis DeBret, symbolized Brazil's image of itself at this transitional moment. At the center is the Portuguese prince, ruler of the empire. Grouped around his throne paying homage are representations of the Brazilian nation, including black and white soldiers, workers, and black slaves. It is an image of state founding remarkable for its projection of centralized power personified by Pedro, inclusive unity, and popular loyalty. A comparable image of state founding in the United States or South Africa would surely have represented the culmination of conflict, whether the American War of Independence or Civil War, or South Africa's Boer War. And surely the comparable American or South African representation would not have included blacks as symbolic members of the nation represented by that state. Nor would South African or U.S. imagery have placed at its center a descendant of the previous colonial power. But Brazil's foundation as an independent empire had not been the result of conflict, but of a peaceful transition that retained historical links to the colonial power of Portugal.

A second image from Brazilian history carries similar symbolism. In 1889, the son of Pedro I lost his Brazilian throne with the declaration of a republic. Before Pedro II sailed back to his ancestral homeland of Portugal, Brazil threw a party for him on the Ilha das Cobras in Rio's majestic Guanabara Bay.