British national identity

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British national identity is a term referring to the sense of national identity, as embodied in the shared and characteristic culture, languages and traditions,^[2] of the British people.^[3][4] It comprises the claimed qualities that bind and distinguish the British people and form the basis of their unity and identity,^[5] and the expressions of British culture—such as habits, behaviours, or symbols—that have a common, familiar or iconic quality readily identifiable with the United Kingdom. Dialogue about the legitimacy and authenticity of Britishness is intrinsically tied with power relations and politics;^[6] in terms of nationhood and belonging, expressing or recognising one's Britishness provokes a range of responses and attitudes, such as advocacy, indifference, or rejection.^[6]

Although the term 'Britishness' "[sprang] into political and academic prominence" only in the late 20th century,^[7] its origins lie with the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. It was used with reference to Britons collectively as early as 1682,^[4] and the historian Linda Colley asserts that it was after the Acts of Union 1707 that the ethnic groups of Great Britain began to assume a "layered" identity—to think of themselves as simultaneously British but also Scottish, English, and/or Welsh.^[8] In this formative period, Britishness was "closely bound up with Protestantism".^[9] The Oxford English Dictionary Online dates the first known use of the term Britishness to refer to the state of being British to a June 1857 issue of Putnam's Monthly Magazine.^[4]

Since the late 20th century, the exploration and proliferation of Britishness became directly associated with a desire to define, sustain or restore a homogeneous British identity or allegiance to Britain, prompting debate. For instance, the Life in the United Kingdom test—reported as a test of one's Britishness—has been described as controversial.^[10] The UK Independence Party have asserted that Britishness is tied with inclusive civic nationalism,^[11] whereas the Commission for Racial Equality reported that Scots, Welsh, Irish and ethnic minorities may feel quite divorced from Britishness because of ethnic English dominance; Gwynfor Evans, a Welsh nationalist politician, said that "Britishness is a political synonym for Englishness which extends English culture over the Scots, Welsh, and the Irish."^[12] Historians Graham Macphee and Prem Poddar state that Britishness and Englishness are invariably conflated as they are both tied to the identity of the British Empire and UK; slippage between the two words is common.^[13] With regards to a proposed oath of allegiance for school leavers, historian David Starkey argued that it is impossible to teach Britishness because "a British nation doesn't exist".^[14]