List of cultural icons of the United Kingdom

A red telephone box and a Royal Mail red pillar box, seen throughout the UK

The cultural icons and symbols of the United Kingdom are mostly interchangeable with symbols of Britain. This page could, theoretically, be called British cultural icons. The list includes certain symbols of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which, for one reason or another, may be perceived to be shared by other parts of the United Kingdom, or were founded or invented after the Union of the Crowns in 1603 or the British Act of Union 1707, or before the creation of the constituent countries (hence the inclusion of Stonehenge). It is based upon the idea that there is a sense of Britishness and shared cultural icons.

Icons of the United Kingdom include:

Alice
David Attenborough
The Beatles.
Big Ben (officially, the Elizabeth Tower).
James Bond.
Britannia.^[1]
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
British history.
The British sense of humour.
Buckingham Palace.
British Bulldog.^[2]
Charlie Chaplin.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Winston Churchill.
The coastline.
Cricket.
Crumpets.
The cup of tea.
Charles Dickens.
Doctor Who
Edward Elgar.
Fish and Chips.
The locomotive Flying Scotsman.
Football.
Full English breakfast.^[3]
Locomotion No 1
The black, London Hackney Carriage taxi.
The Mini automobile.
Mr. Bean.^[4]
Sherlock Holmes.
The Houses of Parliament.
Scottish kilts.^[3]
Monty Python.^[5]
Only Fools and Horses
Harry Potter.
Paddington Bear.
Peppa Pig.
Peter Rabbit.
The Pound sterling.
The Proms.
Princess Diana.
The Pub.
Punch and Judy.^[6]
Queen.^[7]
The Queen and the Royal Family.
Received Pronunciation, or the Queen's English.
The Red Arrows.
Royal Ascot top hat
Royal Mail red pillar box.
The red telephone box.^[8]
The red AEC Routemaster double-decker bus.
Rugby Football.
Soap operas (Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Eastenders)^[9]
Stonehenge.
The Sunday roast.
Thomas & Friends.
The Tower of London.
The Union Flag.
Whisky.^[3]
The White Cliffs of Dover.
William Shakespeare.

References[]

^ "The History of Britannia". Royal Mint. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
^ Baker, Steve (2001). Picturing the Beast. University of Illinois Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-252-07030-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Whisky and kilts bottom of British icons top 20". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
^ "British Icon Mr. Bean Celebrated on New Coin From CIT". CoinWeek. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
^ “Top Ten British Icons”. Glamour. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
^ "Punch and Judy around the world". The Daily Telegraph. 11 June 2015.
^ “Queen declared 'top British band'. BBC News. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
^ Odone, Cristina (11 March 2013). "The trashing of the iconic red phone box is one bad call". The Daily Telegraph.
^ "BRITISH TV: EXPLORING THE UK'S MOST FAMOUS SOAP OPERAS". Anglotopia. Retrieved 7 March 2020.

[1] "The History of Britannia". Royal Mint. Retrieved 5 November 2014.

[2] Baker, Steve (2001). Picturing the Beast. University of Illinois Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-252-07030-5.

[Scotsman-3] "Whisky and kilts bottom of British icons top 20". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 November 2014.

[4] "British Icon Mr. Bean Celebrated on New Coin From CIT". CoinWeek. Retrieved 31 August 2020.

[5] “Top Ten British Icons”. Glamour. Retrieved 28 August 2019.

[6] "Punch and Judy around the world". The Daily Telegraph. 11 June 2015.

[7] “Queen declared 'top British band'. BBC News. Retrieved 28 August 2019.

[8] Odone, Cristina (11 March 2013). "The trashing of the iconic red phone box is one bad call". The Daily Telegraph.

[9] "BRITISH TV: EXPLORING THE UK'S MOST FAMOUS SOAP OPERAS". Anglotopia. Retrieved 7 March 2020.

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List of cultural icons of the United Kingdom

See also[]

References[]