Team GB or Team UK?
We're looking into why the team of athletes in Beijing representing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is called Team GB
Castizo left a comment on the blog, while David Woodgates emailed: "Just who exactly coined the phrase 'Team GB', which you continue to employ incorrectly in your broadcasting? Was it our revered government, or was it the tabloid media who thought it up and printed the T-shirts before you could put them right? Our Olympic squad includes atheletes from Northern Ireland, which is a member of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but not of Great Britain. I hope they can get things right by 2012"
A number of blogs have picked this issue up.
Archbishop Cranmer says that Team GB is an "affront to the loyal British people of Northern Ireland, of which there are very many indeed". You can read the blog entry in full here.
One of the highest profile blogs on matters relating to Northern Ireland, Slugger O'Toole also weighs in with an entry entitled "What does Team GB, not UK, say to you?".
And you can read a thoughtful post about national identity, touching on the Team GB v Team UK debate, on Britologywatch.
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This is what you call a team, not the Football prima donna's these guys at China are proud to represent their country and not only thinking of their bank balance.
"COME ON GREAT BRITAIN"
ps cycling should be the national sport not Fools ball
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Surely it is THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND , so the it is Team GB or UK is irrelevant.
Read the small print of any UK insurance document which precludes any insurance in Northern Ireland and you will be aware of the reality. Insurance companies don't see Northern Ireland as British. Northern Ireland is still seen as a foreign country.It was the fear of a Bosnia on our own doorstep that kept it in Britain.
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brianab - Nope, you're wrong about the reasoning of Insurance companies.
Most of them exclude Northern Ireland because of the level of claims and the high value of settlements that NI Courts hand out - especially for car collision injuries. It is slowly changing.
As for the real topic, only a small percentage of the population are aware of any distinction between Brtiain, Great Britain, the British Isles and the United Kingdom.
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OUr Olympic team should represent the UK or "Britain".
Great Britain is a Physical term meaning the the big island in the British & Irish isles.
Britain, however, is a political term: a short form of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
I understand that "Great Britain" is a name assigned to us by the IOC along with the initials GBR.
Athletes from Northern Ireland may choose to compete for Great Britain or Ireland.
BUT to answer the question, TeamGB is a brand and could easily be called TeamUK or Team Britain!
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Dear brianab is not entirely correct. I run an insurance company and our insurance covers the whole country. Our documents refer to our country as "Britain" throughout all our policies and just to be sure, as we also include the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey along with the Isle of Man, we define Britain as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man"
For us and our customers Britain automatically includes Northern Ireland.
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team GB replaced a previous organisation that was sued by someone prevented from plying her trade as an athelete by it's daft rules on drug abuse.
the athelete was tested for an imbalance in her hormones which could indicate drug misuse but actually indicated serious incompetance by the drug tester. despite knowing this they went ahead with the ban, deprived her of a living, were sued and made bankrupt, so they had to be replaced, partly so they didn't have to pay her the full amount.
you don't have to publish this, just consider it when you do your report.
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.
The problem for a great deal of folk in this country is that they think Great Britain, England and the UK are all interchangeable so they won’t understand the argument about “Team GB” as opposed to “Team UK”
There is also the problematical name of Eire. In English, the official name is Ireland and that is the name the Irish Government used for many years. Our Government used to speak of the Government of the Republic of Ireland and the Irish called ours the Government of the United Kingdom, omitting “and Northern Ireland.” Since the Belfast Agreement, both now use the terms Ireland and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The reason I raise the Irish name is that for many folk, the name they use for Ireland is the Republic of Ireland (in order to differentiate between it and Northern Ireland). To them, “Ireland” would indicate a “united” Ireland .On the Olympic Council of Ireland website it says, “The Irish Olympic Team ‘Team Ireland’ is the Olympic Team for the island of Ireland.”
We now have a farcical situation whereby the UK’s Olympic Association team is that of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but is called Team GB omitting NI and the Irish Olympic Team, Team Ireland is the team for the island of Ireland which includes NI.
It is time for Northern Ireland to be included either by referring to the team as Great Britain and Northern Ireland or as the UK.
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GB / UK everyone seems to have their own thoughts. Mine, for what it's worth is GB, just because it sounds better...
However what is wrong is "team" This is a deadfull Americanism that doesn't work.
The was a film a couple of years ago called Team America, World Police" This tital was making fun of Americans by Americans, I suggest all here should watch it then you will see what I mean.
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GB is the international standard code for the United Kingdom (GBR is the 3-letter version). Sorry, but that's how it is. If you don't like it, complain to the International Standards Organisation, referring to standard ISO 3166.
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kegemac is spot on. About half the folk in the north of Ireland are happy to call themselves British and so would have no problems competing under TeamGB. The other half would call themselves Irish and so would prefer to compete for Ireland. If we were to go for TeamUK, then what would happen to people from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man? These are not part of the UK, yet most people would call them British.
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So it's Team British-Isles-except-for-Eire?
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Horsey, I would add that most people on the mainland but not in Wales or Scotland think 'English' and 'British' mean the same.
I blame the Plantagents and James VI and I for all this un-whole-y mess
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Actually, this is typical tabloid storm-in-a-teacup poppycock. "Team GB" (as we heard on the PM report) covers not only Great Britain, but the United Kingdom (and even the Isle of Man).
The letters "GB" have been a recognised abbreviation for the United Kingdom for many years, and GB is the 2-digit ISO country code for the United Kingdom. UK on the other hand is the 2-digit ISO code for the Ukraine.
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Frances O, you say:
"So it's Team British-Isles-except-for-Eire?"
No, that would not be acceptable. Firstly, those of us in Ireland (Republic of) do not accept the idea that we are part of the British Isles, geographically or politically. It is an outdated term which is not used here. Secondly, Eire is not the correct name to use when referring to the Republic of Ireland, unless you are speaking in Irish.
Whatever your political beliefs regarding Northern Ireland, the fact is that Northern Irish athletes compete with the UK team, and calling that team 'GB' is unfair to those athletes.
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