Cool Britannia

Cool Britannia is a media term that was used in the mid-1990s to describe contemporary art in the UK. The term is closely associated with the early years of New Labour under Tony Blair. It is a pun on the title of the patriotic song Rule, Britannia! .

Word origin

The concept of Cool Britannia was first used in 1967 by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band, as song titles. But there is probably no connection to the modern coinage of the term. Cool Britannia appeared mid-1990s, as a trade name of a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor (vanilla with strawberries and chocolate coated shortbread ), again. The name and the recipe was coined by Sarah Mynihan - Williams, an American lawyer who lives in London, beginning in 1996 and was the winning entry to a competition of Ben & Jerry's. The name of the ice should herald the era of New Labour, which began with the election victory in May 1997. The concept of Cool Britannia was rapidly absorbed into the media and advertising.

Culture of the 1990s

In essence, the term Cool Britannia was referring to the short-lived fashion scene of London; Bands like Blur and Oasis, fashion designers, the Young British Artists and magazines. Under Cool Britannia was the mood in the UK, during the Britpop movement, as a sudden, vivid, British rock movement arose summarized. Often, the popularity of Austin Powers and the re-emergence of the James Bond films, regarded as an important factor in the spread of Cool Britannia. In March 1997, Vanity Fair published a special issue on Cool Britannia, with Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit and the heading London Swings! Again! on the cover. 1998 The Economist wrote that many people already could no longer hear the term Cool Britannia.

Although the term Cool Britannia actually refers not only to England but to the entire kingdom, there are similar terms for Wales ( "Cool Cymru " ) and Scotland ( "Cool Caledonia "), which, however, never reached the same popularity.