Making it easy for others

We do not make it easy for others to understand who or what we are. Are the following 'British eccentricity' or 'British confusion'?

What is the United Kingdom?

England and Wales were integrated administratively and legally over the period from 1536 to 1542 to become a single Kingdom of England and Wales.

England, Wales and Scotland joined under one crown in 1707, becoming The Kingdom of Great Britain. The monarch then became the king/queen of Great Britain, not of England and Scotland.

With the inclusion of Ireland in 1800 the country became The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Since 1922, when Ireland became independent, the country's full title has been The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Put it another way

The British Isles consists of The United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

(Great) Britain consists of England, Scotland, Wales and their associated islands but not Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.

The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are peculiars. They are not represented in the UK parliament:

• The Isle of Man is a self-governing dependency of the Crown
• The Channel Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark are neither part of the UK, nor colonies. They have allegiance to the British Crown and use the three heraldic lions (see below)

Our language

The words 'Britain' is used as shorthand to mean the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The word 'British' is used as an adjective - eg 'the British government' - or to describe the people that live in the United Kingdom as there are no other words available.

It is little clearer elsewhere. Many languages use a translation of 'English' to mean Britain or the UK as they have no commonly used word for the UK.

English is the international language, so naturally people refer to 'the English' when they probably mean 'the British' or 'the people who live in the United Kingdom'. Or is the United Kingdom just a political construct - a place not a country? Where were you born and what does the answer tell you about your attitudes?

Our icons

The union flag is the flag of the United Kingdom. It contains elements representing England (St George's cross), Scotland (St Andrew's cross), Northern Ireland (a red saltire derived from the arms of the Fitzgerald family). It contains nothing to represent Wales and strangely did not change in 1922 when Ireland became independent.

The union flag appears in the flags of other countries and territories around the world:

British Overseas Territories:
Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St Helena & Dependencies, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands

Former colonies and their dependencies:
Australia, Cocos Islands (Aus), Cook Islands (NZ), Fiji, Heard & McDonald Islands (Aus), New Zealand, Niue (NZ), Tokelau (NZ) and Tuvalu (Aus)

As well as their flags, each of the main nations has its emblems:

• England uses the red rose, the tudor red and white rose (from 1485), or a lion. The Plantagenet kings introduced three golden lions in 1154 which are used occasionally
• Scotland uses the thistle and a different form of lion
• Wales uses a leek, a daffodil and a Welsh dragon
• Northern Ireland uses the red hand of Ulster

Sport

The UK is represented in sport at many different levels:

• Olympics: Team GB represents Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Commonwealth Games: the UK is represented by seven teams (The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey have their own teams)
• Football: There is no UK team. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete separately
• Rugby: The UK nations compete separately with people from Northern Ireland playing in the Irish team. There is a composite team for the British Isles called the British and Irish Lions
• Cricket: the 'England' cricket team is actually the England and Wales cricket team. Scotland has a separate team of its own for some competitions

Before international games of rugby, the teams sing appropriate anthems:

• Wales sings Land of My Fathers
• Scotland sings Flower of Scotland
• The Irish team, which consists of players from throughout the island of Ireland, uses a neutral song
• England sings God Save the Queen which is the anthem of the UK and not exclusive to England

The English use different emblems for different sports:

• The football team uses the three lions on a field of tudor roses
• The cricket team uses the three lions with a crown on top
• The rugby team uses an ordinary red rose

English supporters often (mistakenly) wave the union flag.

Why

Do we use GB on our vehicle number plates?
Do we use .UK on our websites?
Do we have a Bank of England?
Do we use GBP to mean Great British Pounds not UKP?

More please

You must have examples of your own to add to this list. Please let us know them.