Put crown emblems back on UK pint glasses to restore national pride, petition argues

Nigel Farage is among those who have backed a 10,000 strong petition to restore the crown emblem to British pint glasses.

First there were the blue passports, now pint glasses are set to consolidate our Britishness. A petition to restore crown emblems to glasses after EU regulations removed them was launched by John Davies on change.org two weeks ago and now has over 10,000 signatures. It will be sent to the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility Margot James.

The crown emblem has been used to indicate if a glass is large enough to hold a full pint since 1699, until it was replaced by the EU-wide CE mark in 2007. At the time the chairmen of JD Wetherspoons and Fuller’s brewery opposed the move, although there was no legal requirement to remove existing crown-bearing pint glasses from use.

Now some are calling to restore the crown emblem in order to reassert our national sovereignty following Brexit. Farage, known amongst other things for rarely being seen without a pint, tweeted “Absolutely. Sign the petition!” alongside a link.

Davies’ petition calls for James to “reassure that no action will be taken against any party in the UK…who chooses to replace the CE mark with the traditional crown emblem, the symbol of the highest authority in this country!” It further calls for James to “actively endorse and encourage the restoration of the crown emblem” which he argues is “sure to symbolise the restoration of UK sovereignty prior to the country exiting the European Union”.

Among the comments on change.org, James Powell from Wickham calls the pint glass controversy “the thin edge of the erosion of our cultural heritage,” while Dudley Howard from Farnham writes that “the sooner we re-establish our Britishness, the sooner we will hold our heads, and our pint glasses, up high”.