Origins: The elephant became associated with the Republican Party also thanks to Thomas Nast. In the same 1874 cartoon mentioned above, Nast depicted an elephant labeled "The Republican Vote ...

the Republican elephant, the Democratic donkey, and Uncle Sam. Publishing regularly in Harper's Weekly, the celebrated Nast drew thousands of cartoons during the second half of the nineteenth century.

See ID #2279.01, "The Map of Bryanism." This cartoon map from the Republican magazine Judge in December 1907 captures the moment. The U.S. is shown as the "Map of the Republican Elephant," with the ...