Do we need to rebrand Britishness?

In commerce, tourism, sport, heritage and pop culture, various popular brand identities have been used to articulate Britishness over time. In times of political upheaval, visual language has had a strong part to play in national discourse: from wartime motivational posters with their bold typographic slogans, to the punk rock movement’s portrayal of economic inequality and social liberalism. And at regular historic intervals Brand Britain has been subject to various attempts at modernisation — by artists, commercial companies and politicians.

The task at hand for branding experts is to present and market the purpose, values, and ideals associated with an entity or organisation in a consistent way to different audiences. This can be applied to a country as much as a product.

The use of colours, imagery, typography and other visual language all contributes to the ways in which values and ideals are conceptualised and presented. Here’s a few examples…

Souvenir Shop Britain

‘Souvenir Shop Britain’ is possibly the most famous of all British brand identities. Loud and proud, it uses a very familiar colour palette of bold red, white and blue, usually all three at once. Prominent Union Jacks are overlaid on ‘iconic’ objects like a double decker bus, postbox or a Marmite jar. Mugs featuring mugshots of the royal family are also commonplace. There’s no strict style guide — the more red, white and blue, the merrier.

Heritage Britain

Frequently used by manufacturers of quilted jackets, wellies and whiskey, the colour palette of greys, browns and greens used in this brand play on the senses by evoking a crisp breeze, a dewy scent in the air, and jewelled grass crunching underfoot. There’s often imagery of picnic baskets, daffodils, Labradors and conkers reminding us of childhood and the songs we used to sing at primary school assemblies. Checks, tweed and tartan also feature regularly.

Cool Britannia

Cool Britannia had its heyday in the 1990s but drew inspiration from the “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” vibe of the 1960s. Symbolising youth, cultural optimism and economic prosperity, it was heavily used in fashion design and Britpop music, as well as by politicians of the era. Warhol-esque imagery, grungy interpretations of the Union Jack, and the British bulldog are all recurring visual motifs.

Bunting Britain

This visual language relies on pastel colours, decorative florals and repetitive vintage patterns such as gingham and polka dots, with a nostalgic throwback to candy shops, motherhood and apple pie. It harks back to a Second World War, stiff-upper lip version of Britishness, but is also underpinned by values of community and family, evoking memories not just of our own childhoods, but the childhoods of our parents and grandparents too.

Although we wanted to move conversations beyond stereotypical or banal symbols such as the Union Jack, the Royal Family, or Britpop, almost no-one wanted to wholeheartedly reject the way we’ve expressed cultural heritage to date. But we found general agreement that we can be more ambitious in thinking of ways we can expand and update the ways we articulate and visualise our national identity.What do you think? Do we need to rebrand modern Britain?

Tell us what you think in the comments below or on our Instazine at https://www.instagram.com/p/BvfIej0n38b/

This article first appeared on the Millennial Labs Instazine, an Instagram-first magazine hosted by Common Vision. Our first Instazine edition draws on insights from Common Vision’s #RebrandingBritishness project, a year-long deliberative consultation with millennials across the UK on what “being British” means today. The project was supported by Sky Arts as part of the ART 50 documentary series which aired in 2019. Find out more: www.instagram.com/millennial_labs

Common Vision ( www.covi.org.uk ) is a think tank working to change the narrative around our shared future. We aim to revitalise public diplomacy by championing deliberative dialogue and encouraging established and new leaders to work together to turn collective social challenges into opportunities.