Iron Lady is a nickname that has frequently been used to describe female heads of government around the world. The term describes a "strong willed" woman. This iron metaphor was most famously applied to Margaret Thatcher^{[citation needed]}, and was coined by Captain Yuri Gavrilov in 1976 in the Soviet newspaper Red Star, for her staunch opposition to the Soviet Union and communism.

Leaders who have earned the unofficial title (some of them postfactum) include:

Some female politicians have been given similar nicknames:

"Iron Lady of the Seas", a 1984 video, and Iron Lady at Sea, a 1988 book, are about Star of India, the oldest iron-hulled merchant ship afloat launched in 1863.

Iron Lady is also the title of a song by Phil Ochs. In this song, the Iron Lady is a metaphor for the electric chair. This song was also performed by Diamanda Galás on her live album Malediction & Prayer in dedication to Aileen Wuornos.

Iron Lady is the title of a 1980 comedy audio album lampooning UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, written by satirist John Wells, featuring noted Thatcher impersonator Janet Brown, produced by Martin Lewis. The album consisted of skits and songs including a song also titled Iron Lady

Iron (/ˈaɪərn/ EYE-ər-n) is a chemical element with the symbol Fe (from Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element (by mass) forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. Iron's very common presence in rocky planets like Earth is due to its abundant production as a result of fusion in high-mass stars, where the production of nickel-56 (which decays to the most common isotope of iron) is the last nuclear fusion reaction that is exothermic. This causes radioactive nickel to become the last element to be produced before collapse of a supernova leads to the explosive events that scatter this precursor radionuclide of iron abundantly into space.

Like other group 8 elements, iron exists in a wide range of oxidation states, −2 to +8, although +2 and +3 are the most common. Elemental iron occurs in meteoroids and other low oxygen environments, but is reactive to oxygen and water. Fresh iron surfaces appear lustrous silvery-gray, but oxidize in normal air to give iron oxides, also known as rust. Unlike many other metals which form passivating oxide layers, iron oxides occupy more volume than iron metal, and thus iron oxides flake off and expose fresh surfaces for corrosion.

The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman. Once relating specifically to women of high social class or status, over the last 300 years it has spread to embrace all adult women, though in some contexts may still be used to evoke a concept of "lady-like" standards of behaviour.

The word comes from Old English hlǣfdige; the first part of the word is a mutated form of hlāf, "loaf, bread", also seen in the corresponding hlāford, "lord". The second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, "to knead", seen also in dough; the sense development from bread-kneader, or bread-maker, or bread-shaper, to the ordinary meaning, though not clearly to be traced historically, may be illustrated by that of "lord".

The primary meaning of "mistress of a household" is now mostly obsolete, save for the term landlady and in set phrases such as "the lady of the house." This meaning is retained in the southern states of the USA, however, in the title First Lady for the wife of an elected official. In many European languages the equivalent term serves as a general form of address equivalent to the English Missus usually written Mrs (French Madame, Spanish Señora, Italian Signora, German Frau, Polish Pani, etc.). In those languages it is correct to address a woman whose name is unknown as Madame, Señora, etc., but in English "lady" has for centuries only normally been a "term of address" in the plural, which is also the case for "gentleman". The singular vocative use was once common but became confined to poetry. The equivalent English term for politely addressing a woman is Madam or Ma'am.