Diego_Sideburns Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I can't believe that readers are still in any doubt about the boundaries of England's regions, so it's time to progress to correcting another misconception. Great Britain consists of three autonomous regions: England, Wales and Scotland. These three are the parts Great Britain, which is part of the United Kingdom. The U.K. includes England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The official name of the UK is "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." In the Olympics, Team GB includes representatives from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and therefore it should be called Team UK. This is so clear that we don't need to have a lengthy discussion, splitting hairs. The only question is should we start a campaign to correct the name of our team in the Olympics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudemedic Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I think Team GB is a marketing thing personally but I'm not a big fan as its doesn't involve the Northern Irish or the Manx (who I'm fairly certain have a few representatives in the Olympic team). We could change the team or we could do what the Chinese (amongst others) are doing and have different teams- England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Island, IoM etc. If china can have 2 teams- China and Hong Kong (plus Taiwan/chinese Taipei) why can't we have 4. However, I don't think that will happen and I'd agree we need to see if it is worthwile changing the name to team UK (which sounds just as good really) but the problem with that is we are already over-spending on the Olympics as it is (in my opinion by about £8.5 billion) and maybe its not worthwhile to go through re-designing the logo etc. as we know that can be expensive and doesn't always produce popular results. Oh and by the way the offical name for the UK at the moment is 'Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island.' People have been charged with treason for less Diego. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego_Sideburns Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 I think Team GB is a marketing thing personally but I'm not a big fan as its doesn't involve the Northern Irish or the Manx (who I'm fairly certain have a few representatives in the Olympic team). We could change the team or we could do what the Chinese (amongst others) are doing and have different teams- England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Island, IoM etc. If china can have 2 teams- China and Hong Kong (plus Taiwan/chinese Taipei) why can't we have 4. However, I don't think that will happen and I'd agree we need to see if it is worthwile changing the name to team UK (which sounds just as good really) but the problem with that is we are already over-spending on the Olympics as it is (in my opinion by about £8.5 billion) and maybe its not worthwhile to go through re-designing the logo etc. as we know that can be expensive and doesn't always produce popular results. Oh and by the way the offical name for the UK at the moment is 'Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island.' People have been charged with treason for less Diego. I was trying to leave Her Majesty out of this, but I stand corrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 We could change the team or we could do what the Chinese (amongst others) are doing and have different teams- England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Island, IoM etc. If china can have 2 teams- China and Hong Kong (plus Taiwan/chinese Taipei) why can't we have 4. A bit more attention to the history books is called for I think. The status of Taiwan and China is about as straightforward and uncontroversial as saying that we could save on changing the stationary by just merging the NI team in with the Republic's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudemedic Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 A bit more attention to the history books is called for I think. The status of Taiwan and China is about as straightforward and uncontroversial as saying that we could save on changing the stationary by just merging the NI team in with the Republic's. I don't disagree and that's why it was in brackets because I know that's what China would like but it is definately not what the Taiwanese would like. However it seems that far too often what China wants China gets (including Olympiad). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_ragg1984 Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Isn't the team actually called "Great Britain and Northern Ireland"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego_Sideburns Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 Isn't the team actually called "Great Britain and Northern Ireland"? If so, it's really Team GB & NI, or Team UK for short. If we're the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest, that's good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I always thought Great Britain (or Gran Britannia ?) was the Roman name for the largest island that formed the British Isles. It just happens to have England, Wales and that other bit at the top on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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