Line #154 UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom


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6	[[caption-width-right:250:God Save the King!]]
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8
9	->''"It is a basic requirement of any British institution that it baffle foreigners."''
10	-->-- '''Creator/BillBryson''', ''Notes from a Small Island''
11
12	Useful information on British life and the United Kingdom for those who are not British.
13
14	The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland -- [[IHaveManyNames commonly referred to as the United Kingdom, the UK, Britain, the Union, or the British Isles]] -- is a European country and constitutional democratic monarchy which sits on a collection of islands in ([[UsefulNotes/WithEuropeButNotOfIt or "near"]]) the north-west of UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}, covering Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, significant islands such as the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland, and countless smaller islands. "Great Britain" is not the name of the country, at least not since 1801. The country is the fifth most populated in Europe. Its north-western location leads to national and international inconsistencies in categorisation; those guided by the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations classify the UK as being part of "Northern Europe", while those guided by [[UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion the European Union]] classify the UK as being part of "Western Europe".
15
16	Britain is made up of four "home nations" wedged into a space slightly smaller than the state of UsefulNotes/{{Oregon}}: UsefulNotes/{{England}}, UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} and UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland. Wales was annexed by England in the [[TheMiddleAges Middle Ages]] (and the title of Wales' old ruler - Prince of Wales (''Tywysog Cymru'') - has been passed to the reigning English monarch's eldest son ever since) but Scotland's entry into this Union was via vote of the Scottish Parliament in the early 18th century which means, theoretically, Scotland entered as an equal. Because England and Scotland merged to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, this means that talking about the "Kingdom of England" (or of Scotland) after 1707 is incorrect as those entities had legally ceased to exist (which makes the common foreign -- and frequently domestic -- reference to Her Majesty as 'the Queen of England' a mistake). The title "United Kingdom" only came about when another Act of Union combined the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, though paragraph III of the 1707 Act of Union states "THAT the united Kingdom of Great Britain be Represented by one and the same Parliament..." (note the capitalisation) and the description "United Kingdom" was in common parlance in the 18th century.
17
18	The King of England (and subsequently Great Britain) was also Lord of Ireland from 1171, and King of Ireland from 1541. Ireland joined the UK in 1801, theoretically by the same means as Scotland--i.e. a free vote of its Parliament--but since that Parliament was dominated by the Protestant Anglo-Irish minority, the union was [[UsefulNotes/TheIrishQuestion a bit controversial]]. Ireland gained formal independence again after its 1919-21 War of Independence, forming the Irish Free State, which later became the Republic of Ireland. Since 1999, Scotland and Wales have been partially self-governing through a new Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly respectively, though these bodies only have powers to deal with certain areas of government - education policy, for example. Scotland & Wales still elect [=MPs=] to the main London Parliament too, which retains control over national issues like defence. Northern Ireland is a portion of Ireland that remained part of the United Kingdom after the rest of Ireland decided to become independent (and, later, a republic) in the 20th century. Unlike the other home nations, which only achieved this fairly recently, Northern Ireland has been partially self-governing since its creation in 1921, though this was suspended between 1972 and 2002 due to [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles a small spot of bother]].
19
20	Variously described by names such as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, the British Isles (though that term is also used to refer to the islands of Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as a group), Great Britain, Britain; many in fact refer to subtly different entities and these themselves may contain areas with different rules (the Channel Islands, Man, etc). It is perfectly easy to run across a construction like, ''"The Isle of Man is part of the British Isles but not governed by the British Prime Minister; though it is not part of the United Kingdom it is subject to the British Monarch"'' - all of which is essentially correct, but the hideous confusion all these overlapping and vaguely similar-sounding terms create is so great it is nearly impossible to explain the situation to someone unfamiliar with it. Especially not verbally, when this necessitates using phrases like "a man from Man has a British passport but is not technically British and certainly not from Great Britain" or "the Republic of Ireland in the island of Ireland is properly called Ireland"... fortunately, the [[SugarWiki/TVTropesWillEnhanceYourLife helpful magic of TV Tropes]] now lets you straighten out all this mess by looking at UsefulNotes/BritainVersusTheUK to clear it all up.
21
22	The name 'Britain' has been traced back through the Latin 'Britannia' back to 'Prydain' and the tribal 'Pretani', and most probably means 'the tattooed ones'.[[note]]The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?[[/note]]
23	A pre-Roman kingdom in the North of England, covering modern Lancashire and Yorkshire, was called ''Brigantia''; rather than fight it elected to become a client kingdom of Rome, and it is possible its name was mis-heard as or corrupted into "Britannia".
24
25	The oldest name of all for the main British island is ''Albany'' - this survives into the present day in the Gaelic name for Scotland (unconquered by Rome), - ''Alba''. The old poetic name for the island is also preserved as ''Albion'' and is used in this context by William Blake and many others.
26
27	Modern 'Britain' didn't exist as a political entity until the early 17th century when James VI of Scotland became dual monarch of Scotland and England and, although both countries were independent of one another, the idea of 'Britain' came from this dual monarchy. The British political system (largely inherited from that of England following the two countries' most recent union in 1707) is the oldest in the world but has undergone some major upheavals in its time, including the Magna Carta of the Middle Ages (which established the rights of the aristocracy in relation to the King), a Civil War in the mid-17th century which overthrew the monarchy and established a republic (although this only lasted eleven years) and a coup d'etat in 1688 known as the 'Glorious Revolution' which overthrew another King and reined in monarchical power meaning that the monarch was forced to rule in partnership with Parliament. Although 1688 is seen as the "basis" for the modern British constitutional setup the years since then have seen the monarchy lose its remaining practical powers and become entirely symbolic whilst Parliament has become the de facto ruler of the country.
28
29	Democracy in Britain proceeded through a series of parliamentary reforms, where power was gradually ceded from the nobility, to the common citizenry. Electoral suffrage widened slightly with the Great Reform Act of 1832 which was the first to enlarge the electorate, but still left it very narrow, based on income and with different rules in different places, allowing a fair bit of corruption (the main purpose of the 1832 reforms was ensuring equal representation between urban and rural areas, to reflect the explosive growth of the industrial cities). External events (specifically the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution American]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution French]] revolutions) are generally held to have had a large influence on the decision to widen the vote. After this the electorate expanded relatively rapidly during the 19th Century so that for the first time over half of men could vote by 1884. In 1918 property restrictions were removed for all men, who could now vote at the age of 21, and some women were given the vote for the first time (although not on equal terms with men, suffering property and age restrictions). Historians will gladly discuss what caused the government to give women the vote, but the two simplest reasons are the campaigns of the militant suffragettes, and the work that women undertook during the First World War. Some people still held two votes by virtue of being graduates of a [[UsefulNotes/BritishUnis British university]];[[note]][[UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} Oxford, Cambridge]], University of London, University of Wales, the Queen's University of Belfast, and the University of Dublin and National University of Ireland (when southern Ireland was still part of the UK) each had their own seats; the other unis in England and Scotland had to share constituencies; plus some of the uni constituencies elected two or three [=MPs=]. Yes, this is all incredibly baffling.[[/note]] TOW says that 7% of the electorate held two votes in 1918. In 1928 women were allowed to vote at 21 just like men could, and in 1969 the voting age was reduced to 18, where it still stands today.
30
31	Once ruled the [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire largest empire in world history]] but by the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, its ability to rule those colonies was challenged. Two protracted, expensive, and somewhat humilating wars in [[UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar South Africa]] - which seriously strained British ability to cope, even though Britain won in the end - gave other subject peoples lots of pause for thought about what could be acheived. Independence movements were born in places like Ireland, Egypt, Israel and India. Ireland, or most of it, was the first to successfully break away and assert independence in 1922. Public opinion was no longer as buoyed by the optimism of empire world-building as it was in the Victorian era; the young generation of Tommies killed in the Great War put a damper on that. The vast mobilization and defense of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII as well as UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's insistence that the Empire not survive the war made it next to impossible for the UK to maintain its holdings and several former colonies gained its independence between 1945 to 1954.[[note]]Most of the rest gained independence in the next couple decades, Brunei being the last one in 1984. The British still hold a few colonies (or dependencies as their known these days) mostly located on overseas islands, either because they're too small to function as an independent nation (Tristan Da Cunha has less than 300 people, Pitcairn Island has around 50) or for economic reasons are better off under the Crown. Many of these dependencies have their own pages and are listed below.[[/note]] A permanent member of the UN Security Council, and with [[UsefulNotes/UltimateDefenceOfTheRealm its own nuclear weapons]] and one of the few remaining blue-water navies, Britain's status as a [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships credible military power]] on its own is well cemented, mostly because of [[UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar the war in the Falkland Islands]]: waging war with an [[UsefulNotes/ArgentinesWithArmoredVehicles advanced military force]] sited ''next door'' to the contested scrap of land in open conflict 8000 miles away ''and then winning'' is no mean feat. Once an industrial powerhouse, Britain now has a mainly service-based economy but is still [[http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15772127 the world's sixth largest]] manufacturer.
32
33	The British have a tendency to be SophisticatedAsHell when it comes to their own language, frequently throwing odd bits of French, German, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Old Norse and Hindi phrases into everyday conversation. Tellingly London has a population where over 250 languages are spoken. This is likely due to the fact that throughout history, there has been a steady influx of external cultural influences to the island nation, from Romans to Scandinavian to French, thus the need to evolve their language into a highly complicated pidgin to facilitate communication and trade.
34
35	Britain creates sports and watches the rest of the world master them, with the exception of SelfDeprecation, which nobody else seems to have the hang of[[note]]Australia and Canada do a pretty good job, but that's probably because they inherited it directly. Maybe, just maybe an honourable mention can be made for the Netherlands (thanks to their proximity to England) and Denmark (thanks to Janteloven).[[/note]]. As the only English-speaking country for most of history, a huge proportion of classic English-language literature originates from the British Isles.
36
37	The UK produces a large number of English-language films and TV programmes of international fame, from well-known establishments like Creator/PinewoodStudios, Creator/TheBBC and Creator/{{ITV}}.
38
39	Since Britain is the cradle of the English language, British English has been known as... [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus oh sod it. I never wanted to do this. Ranting in a page about the traits of a country in Europe. Discussing linguistics I have little base to know. I always wanted to be... A LUMBERJACK!]].
40	-------
41	[[index]]
42	''Areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''
43	* UsefulNotes/{{England}}
44	** BritainIsOnlyEngland
45	** UsefulNotes/{{London}} (capital city)
46	*** BritainIsOnlyLondon
47	*** Literature/DickWhittingtonAndHisCat
48	*** UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs
49	*** [[Platform/BroadwayAndTheWestEnd The West End]]
50	*** UsefulNotes/{{Whitehall}}
51	** UsefulNotes/HomeCounties
52	** UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight
53	** UsefulNotes/EastAnglia
54	** UsefulNotes/TheMidlands
55	*** UsefulNotes/TheWestMidlands (including Birmingham)
56	** UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry
57	*** UsefulNotes/{{Cornwall}}
58	** OopNorth
59	*** UsefulNotes/FootballPopMusicAndFlatCaps (Manchester and vicinity; also included Liverpool until that city got its own page)
60	*** UsefulNotes/{{Liverpool}}
61	*** UsefulNotes/NorthEastEngland
62	** The Peak District
63	*** UsefulNotes/{{Todmorden}}
64	** The Lake District
65	* Other Constituent Countries:
66	** UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}
67	*** UsefulNotes/{{Portmeirion}}
68	** UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}
69	*** UsefulNotes/{{Glasgow}}
70	*** UsefulNotes/GreaterGlasgow
71	** UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland
72	* UsefulNotes/OtherBritishTownsAndCities
73	* Crown Dependencies:
74	** UsefulNotes/TheChannelIslands
75	*** UsefulNotes/{{Guernsey}}
76	*** UsefulNotes/{{Jersey}}
77	** UsefulNotes/IsleOfMan
78	* Overseas Territories (self-governing, but not quite the same as Crown Dependencies)
79	** UsefulNotes/AkrotiriAndDhekelia
80	** UsefulNotes/{{Anguilla}}
81	** UsefulNotes/{{Bermuda}}
82	** UsefulNotes/BritishIndianOceanTerritory
83	** UsefulNotes/BritishVirginIslands
84	** UsefulNotes/CaymanIslands
85	** UsefulNotes/TheFalklandIslands
86	** UsefulNotes/{{Gibraltar}}
87	** UsefulNotes/{{Montserrat}}
88	** UsefulNotes/PitcairnIslands
89	** UsefulNotes/SaintHelenaAscensionAndTristanDaCunha
90	** UsefulNotes/SouthGeorgiaAndTheSouthSandwichIslands
91	** UsefulNotes/TurksAndCaicosIslands
92	* UsefulNotes/CelticKingdoms
93
94	''What you might see in Britain''
95	* UsefulNotes/AVeryBritishChristmas
96	** TheChristmasAnnual
97	* BBCQuarry
98	* UsefulNotes/BritishRoads
99	* UsefulNotes/BritishTouristAttractions
100	* UsefulNotes/BritishWeather
101	** AFoggyDayInLondonTown
102	* CircleOfStandingStones
103	* UsefulNotes/{{Fete}}
104	* UsefulNotes/GlastonburyFestival
105	* UsefulNotes/TheGreatBritishSeaside
106	* IdyllicEnglishVillage
107	* {{Mummers}}
108	* UsefulNotes/ThePoppy
109
110	''British Communications and Transportation''
111	* UsefulNotes/BritishPostalAndTelephoneSystem
112	* UsefulNotes/BritishRoads
113	* UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground
114	* UsefulNotes/NationalRail
115
116	''British Culture''
117	* BritishHumour
118	* BritishMedia (an index of articles)
119	* UsefulNotes/BritishNationalAnthems
120	* {{Britpop}}
121	* [[Platform/BroadwayAndTheWestEnd The West End]]
122
123	''British Economics''
124	* UsefulNotes/BritishBusinesses
125	* UsefulNotes/CouncilEstate
126
127	''British Government And Politics''
128	* UsefulNotes/BritishPoliticalSystem
129	** UsefulNotes/PostWarBritishPolitics
130	** [[UsefulNotes/TheMenOfDowningStreet The Men (and Women) of Downing Street]]
131	** UsefulNotes/PrimeMinistersQuestionTime
132	** UsefulNotes/PartyPoliticalBroadcasts
133	** UsefulNotes/ConferenceSeason
134	** UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdomGeneralElection2015
135	* UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships
136	** UsefulNotes/UltimateDefenceOfTheRealm (UK nuclear weapons)
137	* UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService
138	** UsefulNotes/{{SOE}}
139
140	''British History''
141	* UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons
142	* UsefulNotes/TheVikingAge
143	* UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWessex
144	* UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy
145	* UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet
146	** UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses
147	* UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfTudor
148	* UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart
149	** UsefulNotes/RobertTheBruce
150	** UsefulNotes/TheWarOfTheSpanishArmada
151	** UsefulNotes/EnglishCivilWar
152	** UsefulNotes/GuyFawkes
153	* UsefulNotes/GeorgianEra
154	** UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover
155	** UsefulNotes/GeorgeIII
156	** UsefulNotes/HanoverStuartWars
157	** UsefulNotes/WarOfJenkinsEar
158	** UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire
159	*** UsefulNotes/TheRaj
160	** RegencyEngland
161	** UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain
162	*** UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria
163	* UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor
164	** UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily
165	*** UsefulNotes/ElizabethII
166	*** UsefulNotes/CharlesIII
167	*** UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales
168	*** [[Creator/MeghanMarkle Meghan, Duchess of Sussex]][[note]]who has her page under the Creator namespace by virtue of already being an actress[[/note]]
169	*** [[Creator/SophieWinkleman Lady Frederick Windsor]][[note]]also has her page under the Creator namespace by virtue of already being an actress[[/note]]
170	** TheEdwardianEra
171	** UsefulNotes/TheHomeFront
172	** UsefulNotes/PostWarBritishPolitics
173	** UsefulNotes/TheTroubles (Northern Ireland, c.1966-1998)
174	** UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar
175
176	''British People''
177	* TheBardOnBoard
178	* BraveScot
179	* UsefulNotes/BritishAccents
180	** BritishNazis
181	** IAmVeryBritish
182	** TheQueensLatin
183	* UsefulNotes/BritishEnglish
184	** FloweryElizabethanEnglish
185	** UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish
186	** UsefulNotes/OtherBritishLanguages
187	** UsefulNotes/ScottishEnglish
188	** SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish
189	** StockBritishPhrases
190	** YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
191	* BritishRockStar
192	* UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily
193	* BritishRoyalGuards
194	* BritishTeeth
195	* CharlieChaplinShoutOut
196	* TheDandy
197	* DoctorWhomage
198	* DriverOfABlackCab
199	* EnglishRose
200	* EvilBrit
201	* GratuitousIambicPentameter
202	* TheHighwayman
203	* TheJeeves
204	* LongJohnShoutOut
205	* ManInAKilt
206	* UsefulNotes/TheMenOfDowningStreet
207	* ModernMajorGeneral
208	* NorthernIrishAndNasty
209	* PeterPanParody
210	* QuintessentialBritishGentleman
211	* ScooterRidingMod
212	* TheScrooge
213	* SherlockHomage
214	* UsefulNotes/{{Skinheads}}
215	* ThriftyScot
216	* TinyTimTemplate
217	* UsefulNotes/ATouchOfClassEthnicityAndReligion
218	* TrenchcoatBrigade
219	* TuxedoAndMartini
220	* UpperClassTwit
221	* TheVicar
222	* ViolentGlaswegian
223	* TheWatson
224	* WilliamFakespeare
225
226	''British Food and Drink''
227	* UsefulNotes/BritishPubs
228	** MyLocal
229	* HaggisIsHorrible
230	* UsefulNotes/TeaAndTeaCulture
231	** BritsLoveTea
232
233	''British Sports''
234	* UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}}
235	** UsefulNotes/CricketRules
236	** UsefulNotes/TheAshes
237	* FootballHooligans
238	* UsefulNotes/FootyRules
239	** UsefulNotes/TheFACup
240	** UsefulNotes/FootyLeagues
241	*** UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague
242	*** UsefulNotes/ScottishPremiership
243	** UsefulNotes/BritishFootyTeams
244	* UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion
245	** UsefulNotes/RugbyLaws (specifically those of union)
246	* UsefulNotes/RugbyLeague
247	* UsefulNotes/{{Wimbledon}}
248
249	''British Crime And Punishment''
250	* UsefulNotes/BritishLaws
251	** UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw
252	** UsefulNotes/BritishDrivingLaws
253	* UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers
254	** TheGreatBritishCopperCapture
255	** OldFashionedCopper
256	** UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard
257	* UsefulNotes/BritishCourts
258	* UsefulNotes/BritishPrisons
259	* UsefulNotes/DrugClasses
260	* UsefulNotes/ICNumber
261	* LondonGangster
262	* UsefulNotes/SusLaw
263	* TrafficWardens
264	* UsefulNotes/TheTwoCertaintiesInBritain
265	* TheYardies
266	* YouDoNotHaveToSayAnything
267
268	''British Miscellany''
269	* AbbeyRoadCrossing
270	* AliceAllusion
271	* UsefulNotes/BankHolidays (British public holidays)
272	* {{Bathos}}
273	* BlitzEvacuees
274	* BorrowingTheBeatles
275	* UsefulNotes/BritainVersusTheUK
276	* BritishComics
277	* UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem
278	** BoardingSchool
279	** UsefulNotes/BritishUnis
280	*** UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}}
281	** UsefulNotes/{{GCSEs}}
282	* Creator/BritishFilmInstitute
283	* UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers
284	* {{Burlesque}}
285	* Myth/CelticMythology
286	** Myth/ArthurianLegend
287	*** {{Avalon}}
288	*** {{Excalibur}}
289	*** Myth/KingArthur
290	*** Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake
291	*** Myth/{{Merlin}}
292	** ChangelingTale
293	** {{Geas}}
294	** HeadlessHorseman
295	** {{Nuckelavee}}
296	** OurKelpiesAreDifferent
297	** OurPixiesAreDifferent
298	** SelkiesAndWereseals
299	* UsefulNotes/ChangeRinging
300	* Series/ChildrenInNeed
301	* UsefulNotes/ComicRelief
302	* UsefulNotes/TheCommonwealthOfNations
303	* {{Dracula}}
304	** {{Alucard}}
305	** FightDracula
306	* FaerieCourt
307	* FrankensteinsMonster
308	* {{Hobbits}}
309	* UsefulNotes/TheIrishQuestion
310	* JekyllAndHyde
311	* UsefulNotes/KnightFever
312	** UsefulNotes/BritishHonours
313	* LandOfFaerie
314	* LeyLine
315	* UsefulNotes/NationalHealthService
316	* UsefulNotes/NeoPaganism
317	** UsefulNotes/{{Wicca}}
318	*** UsefulNotes/WiccanMythology
319	* UsefulNotes/OfficialSecretsAct
320	* UsefulNotes/OldBritishMoney
321	* OurElvesAreDifferent
322	** CantArgueWithElves
323	** ChristmasElves
324	** ElfWorks
325	** {{Elfeminate}}
326	** EnslavedElves
327	** ScrewYouElves
328	** SpaceElves
329	* OurGoblinsAreDifferent
330	* OurOrcsAreDifferent
331	* OurWightsAreDifferent
332	* OurWyvernsAreDifferent
333	* {{Pantomime}}
334	* UsefulNotes/ThePond
335	* Myth/RobinHood
336	* SgtPeppersShoutOut
337	* UsefulNotes/SillySeason
338	* SpringHeeledJack
339	* StiffUpperLip
340	* TheTwelveSpoofsOfChristmas
341	* VSign
342	* VictorianNovelDisease
343	* UsefulNotes/WithEuropeButNotOfIt
344	* YetAnotherChristmasCarol
345	[[/index]]
346	----
347	[[AC:The Union Flag]]
348	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_of_the_united_kingdom.png]]
349	->Also known by its naval-use name "Union Jack", the flag combines the flags of the then-known realms of the United Kingdom in 1801 -- the Saint George's Cross of England (red cross over white field), the Saint Andrew's Cross of Scotland (white saltire over blue frame), and the Saint Patrick's Cross of Ireland (red saltire over white field).\
350	The Welsh have the Baner Cymru (Welsh flag), a.k.a. Y Ddraig Goch (the Red Dragon) on a field of green and white as their official national flag; the Welsh also have the flag of St. David a.k.a. St. David's Cross, a yellow cross on a black field in honor of St. David, the Welsh patron saint, which represents Wales as much as St. George's cross for England and St. Andrew's cross for Scotland.
351	----
352	[[AC:Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom]]
353	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/royal_coat_of_arms_of_the_united_kingdom_8.png]]
354	[[caption-width-right:200:[[labelnote:Click here to see the Scottish version]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/royal_coat_of_arms_of_the_united_kingdom_scotland.png[[/labelnote]]]]
355	->It was adopted in 1837 and was modified in 1952 after Elizabeth II became queen.
356	----
357	[[AC:The British National Anthem]]
358	->God save our gracious King!
359	->Long live our noble King!
360	->God save the King!
361	->Send him victorious,
362	->Happy and glorious,
363	->Long to reign over us:
364	->God save the King!
365	----
366	[[AC:Government]]
367	* Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
368	** Monarch: UsefulNotes/CharlesIII
369	** Prime Minister: UsefulNotes/RishiSunak
370	----
371	[[AC:Miscellaneous]]
372	* '''Capital and largest city:''' London
373	* '''Population:''' 67,886,004
374	* '''Area:''' 242,495 km
375	(93,628 sq mi) (78th)
376	* '''Currency''': Pound sterling (£) (GBP)
377	* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' GB
378	* '''Country calling code:''' [[UsefulNotes/BritishPostalAndTelephoneSystem 44]]
379	* '''Highest point:''' Ben Nevis (1345 m/4,413 ft) (146th)

Context UsefulNotes / UnitedKingdom