God's Own Country

While its origins can be traced to various locations, the phrase has gained widespread recognition as a moniker for the Indian state of Kerala.

[6] The idea of "God's own country", worded as "Deus é brasileiro" (Portuguese: "God is Brazilian"), is a common trope in Brazilian culture to inspire optimism and point out the country has vast resources but faces few natural disasters nor international conflict.

[10] The event itself inspired the musical prelude to William Blake's Milton, the piece "And did those feet in ancient time", also known as "Jerusalem", which has become an unofficial anthem of England.

[12] Another first usage of the term by Edward du Bois was in a poem describing the English county of Surrey in 1839.

[13] The phrase was also used in its more literal meaning to refer to Heaven, in a poem by Elizabeth Harcourt Rolls Mitchell in 1857.

[22][23] Apart from various legends of the origin of the Kerala, the slogan alludes to the variety of faiths in the state: Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, and Parsis (Zoroastrians) have coexisted harmoniously for centuries, as attested by the mishmash of temples, towers, spires and synagogues.

The Heroine Kannagi after suffering innumerable injustices travels over the hills to Kerala, where the Gods and Goddesses receive her and take her to heaven.

[33] God's Own Country as a phrase was often used and popularised by New Zealand's longest serving prime minister, Richard John Seddon.

He last quoted it on 10 June 1906 when he sent a telegram to the Victorian premier, Thomas Bent, the day before leaving Sydney to return home to New Zealand.

[39][40] During World War II, German Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels sarcastically mocked the US as "Aus Gottes eigenem Land" (From God's Own Country) in an essay that appeared in the German newspaper Das Reich on 9 August 1942.

[41] Goebbels ridiculed the United States as a young land that lacked culture, education and history in contrast with Germany.

In 1943, the Nazis published an anti-American, antisemitic propaganda book written by Erwin Berghaus called "USA – nackt!