List of cultural icons of the United Kingdom

A red telephone box and a Royal Mail red pillar box, seen throughout the U.K.

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, Wales, Scotland 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 British Act of Union 1707, or before the creation of the constituent countries (hence the inclusion of Stonehenge). At a stretch, they could be things which were created or invented, or people who were born, before the Act of Union but after the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

Icons of the United Kingdom include:

• The Beatles.^[1]
• Big Ben (officially, the Elizabeth Tower).^[1]
• James Bond.^[1]
• Britannia.^[2]
• The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).^[1]
• British history.^[1]
• The British sense of humour.^[1]
• Buckingham Palace.^[1]
• British Bulldog.^[3]
• The coastline.^[1]
• Cricket.^[1]
• Crumpets.^[1]
• The cup of tea.^[1]
• Fish and Chips.^[1]
• Football.^[1]
• Full English breakfast.^[4]
• The black, London Hackney Carriage taxi.^[1]
• Sherlock Holmes.^[1]
• The Houses of Parliament.^[1]
• Scottish kilts.^[4]
• The Mini.^[1]
• The Pound sterling.^[1]
• The Pub.^[1]
• Punch and Judy.^[5]
• The Queen and the Royal Family.^[1]
• Received Pronunciation, or the Queen's English.^[1]
• The Red Arrows.^[1]
• Royal Mail red pillar box.^[6]
• The red telephone box.^[7]
• The red Routemaster double-decker bus.^[1]
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616).^[1]
• The Spitfire (World War II plane).
• Stonehenge.^[1]
• The Sunday roast.^[1]
• The Tower of London.^[1]
• The Union Flag.^[1]
• Whisky.^[4]

See also

• Culture of the United Kingdom
• List of cultural icons of England
• List of cultural icons of Wales
• List of cultural icons of Scotland
• Culture of Northern Ireland

References

1. "Bacon butties, roast dinners and a cuppa: 50 things we love best about Britain show we're a nation of food lovers". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 November 2012
2. "The History of Britannia". Royal Mint. Retrieved 5 November 2014
3. Baker, Steve (2001). Picturing the Beast. University of Illinois Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-252-07030-5.
4. "Whisky and kilts bottom of British icons top 20". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 November 2014
5. "Punch and Judy around the world". The Telegraph. 11 June 2015.
6. "From pillar to post: How Royal Mail builds Britain's letter boxes - and why they look exactly the same now as they did 160 years ago". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 November 2014
7. Odone, Cristina (11 March 2013). "The trashing of the iconic red phone box is one bad call". Telegraph.