John Bull is typically portrayed as a portly fellow sporting a top hat and wearing the Union Jack flag as a shirt. He often has a cane and overcoat. He became widely known from cartoons by Sir John Tenniel published in the British humor magazine Punch during the middle and late nineteenth century.

John Bull's surname is reminiscent of the alleged fondness of the English for beef, reflected in the French nickname for English people les rosbifs (the "Roast Beefs").

John Bull became an emblem of freedom, of manly English virtue, assertiveness, stubbornness, pride, and a fighting independence. The John Bull character was portrayed as a drinking man, hard-headed, down-to-earth, averse to intellectualism, fond of dogs, horses, ale, and country sports.