Cuppa is Official English Icon

The quest is on to identify England’s cultural icons in a new online project being launched in January 2006.

A Portrait of England, being launched on 9 January 2006, will gradually paint a virtual portrait of the country through an exploration of everything cherished in the culture. One of the first 12 official ‘Icons of England’ to be announced is the humble cup of tea.

It is in good company because the others are: Stonehenge, Punch and Judy, the S.S. Empire Windrush, Holbein’s portrait of Henry VIII, the FA Cup, Alice in Wonderland, the Routemaster double-decker bus, the King James Bible, the Angel of the North, the Spitfire and Jerusalem.

ICONS will identify what makes England what it is in the 21st century. Hundreds more nominations from the public are expected and ‘waves’ of new “Icons of England” will be announced each quarter, as the online collection grows bigger and richer in content. Already, other ‘iconic’ food nominations include Roast Beef, Cornish Pasties, Rice ‘n Peas, Curry and a Pint of Beer.

People are being invited all over England, from every community, to nominate their favourite icons. They can also vote on other people’s nominations and share anecdotes, photographs and memories online. Each official ‘Icon of England’ will be fully probed to reveal its innermost secrets, so people exploring the website can delve deeper into the icons’ history, associations and the threads that connect it to our wider culture.

“ Icons are powerful and really switch people on. What sums up England more than a humble cup of tea? ,” said Jerry Doyle, Managing Director of Icons Online.

Visit www.icons.org.uk to see more.