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There seem to be lots of names for the UK, England, … whatever. I never know what to call it. But thank god for the internet I can look it up!
- England is the country whose capital is London.
- The UK is England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – it is confusing because it is classified somewhat vaguely as a “country of countries” and its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (what it says on my passport). The capital of the UK is also London.
- Great Britain is the island comprising England, Scotland and Wales and should be used in a geographical sense rather than in terms of political countries. (But then why do we call them Britons?).
- Ireland is the island and comprises of 2 countries – Northern Ireland (part of UK) and the Republic of Ireland. If someone says they are Irish they are referring to the Republic of Ireland.
This bares bones is enough to stop some of the confusion but there is a whole heap more and I’ve never seen it summarised so well as I did on this You Tube video I watched this morning. You must check this out.
So, I received a bit of feedback on my most recent Naked Passport Post – thank you to Sarah for her very articulate indignation at my calling the non-EU queue at the airport the ‘loser’ queue when I am in fact Australian. I was also sent a great article in the NY times about becoming a UK citizen from the Schnitzel.
For any of those unfamiliar with the process of gaining a UK Passport, you first need to become a UK citizen, which means you have to fill out forms, take a medical test, and various other fairly mundane activities; but the last part of the process is your Swearing in Ceremony; a formal affair where you pledge your allegiance to your new country.
In honesty, my UK Passport acquisition is most in line with what the author in this article describes as “the lone American businessman pledging his allegiance to the shortest airport queue”… or in my case, a ticket to live in London. What should have been an exciting and important event just left me feeling a bit cheap and nasty because basically I faked it. Swearing allegiance to Britain? Surely they know my allegiance is ALWAYS going to be to Australia.
What’s worse is that the UK probably wouldn’t even be my next allegiance either, that honour would probably go to Canada, or even New Zealand (controversial yes, but I love those guys and we do need to stick together) neither country of which I have citizenship. The best I can promise is that the UK would definitely be in my top 5 – I do have a heritage with the country through my family and I really REALLY appreciate being able to live here.
Is that good enough a pledge – “In the Top 5”? Should they let me keep my passport? If I were them, then the answer would likely be a big fat REVOKE.
But in reality, the UK will let you have as many other citizenships as you want, so they must know that many people they swear in don’t always have England in their hearts forever. And maybe they are just being realistic. We live in an international community and people are criss crossing the world all the time. You have to respect that people have many homes. Though I think I agree with the author of the NY Times article, that in the end, you can only be from one place. And mine is most definitely Australia.
…The irony of course is that you never have to pledge allegiance to the country you’re born into.
PS. Although you actually can attend an “Affirmation Ceremony” to pledge your commitment if you want, details found here.
louashton
