Cool Britannia

Cool Britannia was a period of increased pride in the culture of the United Kingdom throughout most of the 1990s inspired by 1960s pop culture. The success of Britpop and musical acts such as the Spice Girls and Oasis led to a renewed feeling of optimism in the United Kingdom following the tumultuous years of the 1970s and 1980s. It is a pun on the title of the British patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!".

Origins of the term

The phrase "Cool Britannia" was first used in 1967 as a song title by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. The phrase "Cool Britannia" reappeared in early 1996 as a registered trade mark for one of Ben & Jerry's ice-creams, and as used by the media and in advertising, it seemed to capture the cultural renaissance of London at the time (as celebrated in a 1996 Newsweek magazine cover headlined "London Rules". The election of Tony Blair's Labour government in 1997, seen by some as young, cool and very appealing, was a main driving force in giving Britain a feeling of euphoria and optimism.