# 5 Sweet Tees that Represent the UK



## Printsome (Jul 31, 2013)

What makes the UK great? Putting all our moaning about the weather and the economy to one side, it’s really not a bad place to live. One great man once said:

“We may be a small country, but we’re a great one, too. The country of Shakespeare, Churchill, The Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter. David Beckham‘s right foot. David Beckham’s left foot, come to that.”

If that doesn’t get the hairs on the back of your neck tingling then you are probably not British. The cultured among you may have realised that the great man who uttered those stirring words was Hugh Grant, playing the British Prime Minister in Richard Curtis’ Love Actually. Both these chaps are Great Britons and worthy of a tilt of your cap.

As Hugh rightfully mentioned we have, as a nation, given the world some incredible characters.

The music and film industries are littered with Britons who have taken the world by storm. We have already waxed lyrical about The Beatles in our homage to T-shirt Printing in Liverpool, along with Oasis from Manchester and Massive Attack in Bristol, but there is one British band that is yet to be mentioned and it’s there that I’ll kick off our Top 5 T-shirts that Represent the UK:

*1. Rolling Stones*









This T-shirt must be one of the best British fashion exports, and is iconic of the rebellious attitude that the band and their followers promoted. Following The Beatles, The Rolling Stones were marketed as the complete opposite to their, apparently, straight-laced northern contemporaries, causing controversy whenever they took to the stage. Despite their wild lifestyles The Stones are still rolling and, with Mick Jagger celebrating his 100th birthday next year and Keith Richards looking good for 120, it seems their music is as timeless as this classic T-shirt.

*2. The Who*









Controversially I am going for another band T-shirt for my second choice. Don’t hate. I thought it important to incorporate the red white and blue somewhere in the countdown without selling my soul and presenting you with a typical straight-off-the-stall touristy number. You deserve better than that, so here it is. Like The Stones, The Who harnessed the discontent of a generation that just wanted to wear parkers, ride Lambrettas (with an unsafe number of mirrors attached) and get beaten up on Brighton beach. And who are we to say no to that?

*3. Wales Rugby*









At Printsome we believe in an inclusive blog post, therefore, in the spirit of political correctness, I would like to introduce the Wales Rugby T-shirt. The premise for this blog post was that the T-shirts had to represent the UK and actually be desirable to own or wear. In that case I would like to point out that although this T-shirt could be accused of being plain, I can reference our guides on designing an awesome tee and remind you that simple is often better. The Welsh are rugby mad and, as a proud English rugby fan, I would personally like to thank them for basically winning us the Lions series. Cheers.

*4. Irn Bru*









Britain’s greatest ever Olympian, Sir Chris Hoy, would probably agree with me when I say that this Irn Bru cycling T-shirt is worthy of its inclusion in my top five. Irn Bru is patriotically consumed by Scots in huge quantities, in fact it’s one of the only countries in the world where Coca-Cola is not the best selling soft drink. With all that energy drink knocking about, it’s no wonder Scotland has produced some of the best British athletes in recent years: who can forget Andy Murray lifting the Wimbledon trophy and, of course, Sir Chris himself becoming Britain’s most successful Olympian at London 2012.

*5. George Best 7*









“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered,” are the famous words of another Briton. George Best was arguably the best footballer ever to hail from our shores, playing for Manchester United and Northern Ireland in a career unfortunately plagued by disruption off the field. Despite his troubles, Best remains a cult hero on both sides of the Irish Sea, remembered fondly as one third of the Holy Trinity along with footballing legends Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton.

_Did I miss any out? If so give me a shout (comment)!_


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