Welcome to Poland.

George Townsend, Manchester,

"We never, never, never give up."

-Jane Cobb, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Jane Cobb, Birmingham, Alabama USA

"Oh my Gord - we're great!"

Tim Bene, Malta,

Get rid of the current national anthem and replace it with "Rule Britanna - why should our national anthen be based round one person? surely be about the tribulations, achievements and Victory of us. The Britons.

Henry Willis, London,

This howland land in silver sea, this womb of kings, this Britannia, Our land, our Home

Henry Willis, London, London

motto

" Brittania waives the rules "

William Waddell, Grayshott, Surrey

get rid of the jockocracy!

chas warner, taunton,

Can we not fit Gatso into the Dipso Fatso etc motto?

Adam, Peterborough,

Erstwhile glorious, now in shadow

Leon, Tunbridge Wells, UK

Who needs sodom and gommorah

dave, sheffield,

"Britain innit"

Maree, London,

Roll over, roll over, let em all in

Pete, St Albans, England

Welcome to Great Britain, the benefits office is this way sir and was that a house in Mayfair or Park Road you were after?

Mark R, Alnwick, Northumberland

"Can't complain (but like a moan)"

Vaughany, The Port, South Wales (orginal)

Being a foreigner, I might not be able to grasp in its entirety what you are trying to do here, but this whole find a motto thing seems to me like nonsense. Some are pretty unlikeable the only prospect of hearing them or see them in print make me vomit, such as the Great people, Great country, Great Britain and the like. The ones in latin are just plain inappropriate and 200 year old at the time of thinking.

We spaniards have been told not long ago to device the lyrics for our national anthem. Well, 90% of the people think that it will be better not touched: let's keep it lyric-less, as it resembles what being a spaniard is: improvised, disorganized, rough-finished, but still decent, hearty and noble.

I think you, loved english people, should skip this issue altogether. I think that's it when all you can come up with are sarcastic/ironic/nostalgic... mottos. And cheer up, you people are not half as bad as you think you are.

Rafa Nomejodas, London, uk

More than five words! "Britain--We Invented the Slave Trade and BrutallyColonized Millions and Now Bitch and Moan AboutOutsiders in Our Midst."

Mike, Londin,

Shame upon him who thinks drivel of it

Graham Becker, New York, NY, USA

Britain: Spoken all over the World.

eugene, heidelberg, germany

The Once and Future Great Britain.

James, Nottingham, Notts

Britain - Run by scotland, paid for by england

Stuart, Southampton, Hampshire

Currently fashionable world residential zone.

Dan, London,

I AM PROUD TO BE "A BRITON"
My ancestors walked into Britain from The Bay of Biscay
before it became an island. Five centuries before
Christ, Greek traders knew us as Britons. Three centuries
before the immigration of Scots from Ireland and English from the Netherlands, our Emperor made us Roman Citizens.

During the Dark Ages, Britons who remained on our island called themselves Cymry ("fellow citizens")
Those who migrated to France are still called Bretons.
Irish & French invaders called us "Galls". English invaders
call us Welsh. That's O.K. too. WE'RE STILL BRITONS!

Recent DNA research shows that Scots and Englishmen
are also decended from the same "Celts", "Galls", Basque", (whatever) as are the Welsh.

Its time the "Anglo-Saxon" nonsense was discarded.
Its time the Scots learned that they are Britons too.
Its time a decent British Constitution was agreed.

Until then," CYMRU AM BETH" (= "BRITAIN FOR EVER")
is a good moto.

john Wilce, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan

Interesting that all these people who have happily shaken the dust of our shabby, inefficient, drunken little island from their feet still read the 'Times' - can it be that there's something going for Britain after all? 'Bloody but unbowed'

Pauline, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey

This to shall pass.

Kevin Kinsella, Zürich, Switzerland

This to shall pass.

I leave the last word to the British.

Kevin Kinsella, Zürich, Switzerland

Airstrip 1 of course

OSJ, Ankara,

Maybe what's needed is a name change not a motto:

'Average Britain'

nr, London,

Mongrels adrift on a bureaucratic ocean

Charlotte Peters Rock, Knutsford, England

Rest in Peace

Ben W, Bognor, uk

"Triumph over self-impossed adversity". It is truly the modern British way; to get ourselves in a pickle only to come out of victorious at the other end.

I bet the heroes who fought both home and away to protect this country look at the current situation in disbelief.

Whilst other countries have such adversity exerted on them, our politicians through fiscal mismanagement, sleaze and entering into unlawful wars create their own problems to then resolve triumphantly.

The inhabitants are the same, through a generally untrusting, paranoid and hard-done-by attitude we are always fighting the good fight against the big bad insert *government/system/big brother/wave of immigration.

And obviously we all come out through the self-induced mayhem to reflect on a jolly good effort to get out of that scrap with a cup of tea and a bacon sarnie with brown sauce and or pint of ale and pork scratchings depending on the time said victory takes place.

Dave W, London, UK

"We Invade Everyone At Least Once"

MB, London, England

UK - Dumbing down disguises decay!

Dave, Wirral,

One Family - United !

Howard, London,

Appeasement, Appeasement, Appeasement

John, Beckenham,

Britain has always been "Great" all we needed was a pit of "Polish"

David Hughes, Redruth, Cornwall

Please, do not insult the land where my dreams were born, do not belittle the greatness of the Greatest, reputations are built destroyed, lo and behold, if Britain did not exist we would have to create it !
Great Britain I love you because you are Great!

minouche Vienne, Damansara Perdana, Malaysia

"Divide et impera ! Then and now."

Peter Vernunft, Berlin, Germany

"Oh, you are awful, but I like you."

Hugh Costello, London, UK

Six words is not enough. Switch the last word below for 'Britain' and what better panegyric than this:

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,--
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

--William Shakespeare, "Richard II"

Z S, This earth, this realm,, this Britain!

There will always be a Britain and Britain will be free if Britain means as much to you lot as Britain means to me.

Geoff Hunt Nolan, Miami, USA

'Land of Hope and Glory'.

Paul Francis, Brisbane, Australia

Britain: always helping other nations; always sporting a stiff upper lip!

Emma, Singapore,

A nation of binge drinkers.

The rich get richer
The poor get benefits
and
The middle class get taxed to hell.

SM, Vancouver (ex pat),

Anyone fancy a Pint?

Nigel, Sydney, Australia

I prefer to be English.

Mike Buckland, Kenninghall, England

A green and pleasant land

Peter Lewiston, London, England

' Chavus Burberrii in Imprezza Mundus '

Steve Lythgoe, Knutsford, UK

Last Out, Turn Off Light

Jim, Oulu, Finland

Dear dear, Great Britain.

Andy, Plymouth, Middle England

Punching above its weight since 1919

Ed, london, Great Britain

Best empire that ever was!

Richard, London,

Great Britain - nul point

dan, Zürich,

come for the food, stay for the weather

sol, Monterey Bay, California

Third world, here we come.

stephen, Lorca, Spain

We Built The Titanic

Martin Matusiak, Utrecht, Netherlands

Britain - Living The Illusion Of Empire

marc, Kansas City, America

Great Britain. Risk assessed.

Reza Van Sanden, Sutton,

Was nice while it lasted

Roberto, York,

what about some irony

'everyone loves the english'

james mcarthur, Glasgow, scotland

Let the rest of the world sneer

brian, Chorley Lancs, united kingdom

We are comfortable with who we are

brian, Chorley Lancs, united kingdom

I think the motto for modern Britain should be: 'I can only apologise.'.. that covers everything from the recent global track record through to living with daily customer service experiences

Sarah, London, London

'Land of hope and Glory', and why not change the national athem while were at it.

James Cornish, Lancaster, Lancashire

England for the English

Barbara, Seattle, USA (Ex Pat)

English back in control please.

Our Celtic cousins appear to have made a hash of things.

Nick Dixon , sutton Coldfield, West Midlands

Britain: you are soul you.

malcolm Lambe, Paris, France

If its not compulsory, its illegal

gianni, Ney York, USA

Britain, never mind

Alec in France, Aude, France

Suggestion for our country's motto:

The View Belongs To Everyone

Andrew Harding, Eastleigh, England

The View Belongs To Everyone

Andrew Harding, Eastleigh, England

England are in a winning position, play has resumed.

Maggie Snook, wareham, dorset

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all out of the competition, and again it's left to England to represent Great Britain.

Richard Snook, wareham, dorset

I'll be home for Christmas!

Richard Snook, wareham, dorset

Great Britain - a great place to be from.

Rick, Canada,

It'll be over by Christmas.

Ian Assersohn, Leatherhead, Surrey

Mostly Harmless.

Baz, Manchester, UK

"From diversity , strength"

martin, WORTHING, UK

Get me out of here.

Christy Conroy, Leicester, UK

You can't have "We're not American." That's already the motto of Canadians.

Susan, Toronto,

Great : A bit over stated.
Great : Or at least nice.
Great : Above average, any way.
Great : Thinking highly of ourselves.
Great : Once upon a time.
Great : In our own minds.
Great : Or solidly upper-middle class.
Great : Right there in the name.
England : We have Wales, too.
Lost Ireland but kept Wales.
Stuck with Scotland
Not famous for our food
Invented football, then lost it
Monty Python slept here
Still wearing silly hats
Sorry about "Right Said Fred"
We're not all hooligans
Would you like chips with that?

Mike, Carmel, USA

It's up to you, red white & blue

Liz Botham, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

In Gord we distrust

Neil, Southampton, England

No more Scots we're British!

Francis, London, GB

CCTV in Operation

Luke, Washington, DC,

Britishness is not being French.

Kit, London, UK

Immigration, Emigrate, Bye!

Andrzej, London,

Open Door - let 'em i-i-i-in

lisa, bristol,

Life's liberties lost

Paul Woodman, Grantham, UK (for the moment)

I think that it should be

Greater England, Greater England, Greater England

as that is what much of the debate on 'Britishness' really boils down to. It has little to offer the Welsh, the northern Irish or the Scots

Mark, Cardiff, Wales

We Should Have Copyrighted the Language.

(Okay, it's one word too long!)

Mary Contrary, Detroit, USA

We'll Muddle Through

M Newton, Richmond Hill, ON, Canada

Arsenal are better than Manchester Utd

Rainham Red, Rainham, Kent

The best thing to come out of Britain recently was the ferry.

Steven, limerick , Ireland

"Dipso fatso bingo asbo Tesco".........got it in one.

judy, Liverpool, england

Once Britain, twice shy: Emigrate

David, Orlando, USA

Get a life !!! no seriously a proper one !

Saad Ali Khan, London, U.K.

who cares the government doesn't

simon, london, the world

The best of English humor: (5)
Peter Sellers, Marty Feldman, (4)
Benny Hill (2)
Faulty Towers (2)
The mouse that roared (4)
Carry on,......series (3)

a. habegger, palm springs, california, usa

Benefits and yobs

Jessica , Coventry, UK

GREAT BRITAIN

Gardens and parks state
Remembrance sunday
Empire
Adam smith
Torries

Butler's
RollsRoyce ( or "raleigh"?)
Internationalism
Tea and dont forget the biscuits
America's best fellow
Industrial Revolution
NHS ( or "nanny state" after smoking ban? )

"peace in the world.. " =)

GP, Cambridge, cambridgeshire

Goodbye, goodbye, I'm leaving you, goodbye.

jill, leicester, uk

How about "St. James Gate, Dublin- 1759"- Hey- it works for Guiness... ....

Scott Benowitz, Rye, New York , U.S.A.

After you,- No, I insist.

Georgina Baker, Hornchurch, England

How about, "Civilization is down to us."

Judith M. Shimkus, St Louis MO, USA

north west of the continent

Tom, Liverpool,

I earn therefore I am..........a government target.

Matt C, London,

Civilisation, it's down to us!

Judith M. Shimkus, St Louis MO, USA

God save the Queen,Rule Britania!

Dickens, York,

"Great Britain - Game Over"

Ross, Glasgow, UK

Ross Dee, Glasgow,

Britain - the kettle's on.

GG, Portsmouth

GG, Portsmouth,

Great Britain - Labour - Little Britain

Dr Malcolm Carruthers, LONDON, UK

welcome to the police state

Stephen Laurence, York,

Britain... not your grandfathers vacuum cleaner.

taylor, san antonio, TX

We didn't vote for Bush

James, Peterborough,

GB go home

or

In Gord we distrust

Neil, Southampton, England

UKIP,Campaign for English Parliament

derek bevan, Huntingdon/Cambs, England/UK

Scotland, and the other bits.

Chris, Edinburgh, Scotland

Benefits, Yobs, chavs and other society misfits.

Jessica , Coventry, UK

Look babes, Oi fink, so therefore Oi am, roight mayte, yeah!!

Maggie Snook, wareham, dorset

'Feeling Schadenfreude for our selves'

Ed, london,

Great Britain: Mind The Gap

Jim Walls, Ridley Park, PA, US

Through every adversity lies the seed of greater benefit-but where?

Maggie Snook, wareham, dorset

Keep your shirt on!!

Maggie Snook, wareham, dorset

land of absent fathers
partners up the creek
and they shop in Asda
buying bubble and squeak.
Loading up their 4 tracks
with a bottle or two,
and assorted children,
showing their tattoos!!

Maggie Snook, wareham, dorset

Britain, Benefit capital of the world.

ian roscoe, torquay, devon

yr two bob's worth more

Martinez Myerzo, walberton, sussex

Get A Bloomin' Move On

Graham, Toronto,

Restricted Orwellian nanny state Britian

Kim Velasquez, Ellesmere port,

Mad as a box of frogs

Alex, herts,

"Obstinately disobedient to King Francis II"

Tim Ferguson, St. Clair Shores, Michigan, United States

How about......

It's what we make it!

Ian Sutherland, Broxbourne, Herts

Come on in, everything's free

David Dutton, Bath, UK

welcome all - benefits this way

brian robson, coventry, england

Run, and over-run, by foreigners

CB, Epsom, England

Obey whatever Bush commands us.

IZHAR, aberdeen,

Britain-
taxed when we earn,
taxed when we spend,
taxed when we save,
taxed when we die.
So why bother?

Alun Hughes, Ipsden, Oxon

Big Brother's watching you.

HC, LONDON,

Promoting meaningless rebrandings since 2007!

Harry, London,

Britain - So great I emigrated to The Netherlands

Jean Booth, Voorburg, The Netherlands

'£300 per day tax free'

Joseph Wilson, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear

May contain nuts

John, Selby,

Self-loathing, proud of it

Amanda, Fulfork, York,

Investing in the young.

Asbo King, london, enfield

Fair Isle of Britain - united we sink!

Jean Booth, Voorburg, The Netherlands

Whingers wishin' we waz elsewhere

Susan, Twyford,

Lamb Bhoona and chips please!

Sam , Glasgow,

The ideal motto is surely -
WELOME TO THE FAT CAT GRAVY TRAIN

Serena Allen, Bristol, UK

The fat cat gravy train

Serena Allen, Bristol, UK

Britain - the land of multiculturalism that has no culture

Matthew, Warwick, England

Four countries united - until recently

Colin Powell, Moreton, U K

Still awaiting the Prophet

Friday Night With Johnathan Ross

Sean, Winchester,

Unwelcoming, Insular, Rude, Whingeing & Shallow

Ian, Montpon , France (ex UK)

Europe does while we whinge

Ian, Montpon , France (ex UK)

Not So Great Britain

Gordon , Kitzbuhel, Austria

Britain, Wonderful place, by GOLLY

Mike, Ulm,

Great : It's in the name

Mike, Carmel, USA

Reward failure and punish success

frankie, London, UK

"No Liberty, No Equality, No Fraternity"

"No Representation without Taxation, Taxation, Taxation"

Derek, London,

Drink. Dumb. Junk. Fat. Football

Angeline, The Hague, Netherlands

The Something for Nothing Society

John Smail, Gorleston, UK

socialist, politically-correct, statist, hell-hole.

Den, Hornchurch, Essex

A Horrible War Mongering Nation.

The Gub, Glasgow,

Britain: worthy of at least 2 chapters in any "rise and fall of empires" book.

lori, Toronto,

Take Down The Union Jack

Rufus Wallabee, Perth, Australia

Great Britain, so great I can't wait to leave.

Martin, madrid,

"Stiff upper lip, mustn't grumble."

Chris, Enfield, Middx

Best before Nineteen fifty six

Adrian Davies, Fremont, CA

GB - united by greedy politicians

Neil, Southampton, England

Not going to europe 2008

john, buenos aires, argentina

Or perhaps "Bingo, Bango, Boingo... Rip City!!!" (former cheer for the Portland Blazers, N.B.A. basketball team from Portland, Oregon), now that you guys are exhibiting OUR professional sports teams in your stadiums... ....

Scott Benowitz, Rye, New York , U.S.A.

To have an national ego-motto is akin to the game of oneupmanship.

We all know someone who is always ready with bigger, better, brighter, longer, wider etc.

Do you like that person?

John, Nanaimo, BC

My word is my spin.

Gerard Mulholland, Paris, France

Good enough to leave behind.

Jon Bird, Owaka, NZ

Don't bin it, ban it.

Terry, Radstock, England

Britannia waives the rules

Baz Elvin, Corsham, England

"Sorry, is this the queue?" - genious!

mark, Reading, UK

Buy anything Chinese.

Geral, Oxford,

Free Speech: Going, going, gone.

M.S., Reading, England

Please turn off the lights

Simon, Medway,

Get out while you can

Richard Mincher, Edinburgh, Scotland

"At least we're not muslims."
"At least we're not Iranians."
"At least we're not Afgans." and so on.

D. Cormack, Gainsborough, UK

We didn't start the fire

Thomas, London,

Always Strive For Greatness

Gary , Oldbury, England

Mottos - only for the crackers

Frank Upton, Solihull,

Immigrants? Of Course You Can!

Karen, Littlehampton, West Sussex

open all hours, for all

or

if you have no home, country, self respect. come on in. britain a country for everyone not british

tony, swindon,

"Britain - So great I emigrated to New Zealand.
Parsley, Auckland, New Zealand"

How about:

Britain: The wingers have gone

Derek Smith, Brighton, UK

How about...

Britain: the literate have left.

Trevor, Basingstoke,

"Two World Wars and One World Cup"

Steve, Folkestone, Kent

My other country's America

Simon, Sofia,

Nothing but labour's tax fodder!

A thorn, London,

'Will this do?'

Mikey, Wapping, UK

Have I missed it, or has not one come up with:
"This green and pleasant land."

alan, cologne,

I sold it on Ebay

James, Northamptonshire,

Faded empire stuck in past!

Martin Kerr, Glasgow,

Home rule for England

John , London ,

Expoitative, Racist, Jingoistic & Xenophobic.

Rhainman, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Britain - A Tale of Two Cities (London and Edinburgh)

MarkS, Leeds,

class,conservative,patronizing,law-abiding,stubborn

Basil, Cambridge,

Free trading awkward island dwellers.

Daniel, London, UK

"Britain - So great I emigrated to New Zealand.
Parsley, Auckland, New Zealand"

How about:

Britain: The wingers have gone

Derek Smith, Brighton, UK

We hate slogans

Tom Welsh, Basingstoke,

Brown is a bit late to the game, they've ALREADY got a motto to place over all local government buildings --

NO SMOKING


In fact they've placed NO SMOKING over every public building!

Take that!

Charles Daniels, Oxford,

No motto please, we're British.

David, London,

Consensual motto: Time and Place of Vision and Tradition

In reference to:
Greenwich Meridian Time
English, the lingua franca of the Western World
The visionary alliance between the people of Great Britain and beyond the United Kingdom.

Inspirational motto: Rule Britannia

In reference to the aforementioned reasons and more importantly Rule Britannia, the poem of James Thompson and the song of Thomas Augustine Arne
http://www.britannia.com/rulebrit.html

Eric Morse, London,

Better off without Scots politicians

TG, Newark,

It's in the blood, really

Andy, Chesterfield, England

Not What We Once Were

Kobi Lehrer, London,

GB - Warning, may contain nuts.

Alan Doyle, Ipswich, England

bathroom carpets made in china

Craig , Batley, UK

Get the hell outta here

Alex, Newcastle, UK

Ignorance, yobs, weather, traffic, taxes.

Ben Garside, Loughborough, Leics

An apt 3 word motto might well be "mediocre, apathetic,...er!?"

Andrew, Boston, UK

working our way towards 1984...

paulo, Milton Keynes,

A shock: Ask readers of the Times what Britishness means and you get a flood of racist remarks. 'Not American or European', 'at least we're not French' etc etc.

Being a nationality is not important for developement and the proof is that only people with extreme opinions respond to the question when asked.

I'm Scottish by birth, British according to my passport, and European according to my insurance.

J Hunter, Paris, The World

Britain. Considerably Better Than You.

Julius Lester, Atlanta,

"Get out while you can."

Steve, London,

Patience, Fortitude, Tolerance and Temperance

naveed zafar, glasgow, scotland

quango lingo jingo twingo minger

Andre, sidcup, england

Less than a sum of its parts.

Neil, Southampton, England

Britain - so great I emigrated to Canada

Harry G, Vancouver,

How about...

We aren't Americans or Europeans

Ben Parkinson, B'ham, UK

Chicken Tikka Masala for all !!

Gary, St.Albans,

When Scotland secedes we can go back to being England

Ed, FARNBOROUGH, England

Character is Strengthened in Adversity

David, Tavistock, Devon, UK

WE invented the tea bag

andy anderson, rousse, bulgaria

You're being watched.

J,Newman, Ringwood, Hampshire

Redundant

Richard, Bexhill, UK

Britain - practical, quirky, bloody patient! :-)
Could have added stiff upper lip but the British media would have that as a prehistoric national myth!
In any case, its the only western, medium level power with the ability to face the current tectonic geopolitical power shifts with any sense of dignity (and success).

Anamika, London, London

And we shall shock them (Shakespeare, K. John)

Bignig, Crawley,

lets get out of here would be mine. (the sooner the better, if I had a few more words)

anna, petersfield, hants

What ever Brussels wants we do

Barry Holmes, Christchurch, New Zealand

Hidebound, classist, jealous, declining, insular England is off-track in blaming Labour for it's decline. Post-Thatcher labour is comprised of soft-handed, Oxbridge know-alls who cater to new money, distain labourers and hate the traditional elite. Britan effectively has no proper representaion of Labour. As an American, it is disconcerting to see Britain taking the worst of current American Darwinism. The names and faces may change, but the game remains the same.

Vincent Savage, Florence, South Carolina

Land of Hope and Glory

Gordon Fulthorpe, Dundas Ontario , Canada

Britain - So great I emigrated to New Zealand.

Parsley, Auckland, New Zealand