A Victorian Punch and Judy show. Photograph: Don McPhee/Guardian
An attempt to find and celebrate the public's favourite symbols of Englishness was launched today.
The project, entitled Icons, kicked off with a list of 12 symbols including the cup of tea, the Spitfire, and Punch and Judy, but no Big Ben or black cab.
Completing the full list of 12, is Stonehenge, the SS Empire Windrush, Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII, the FA Cup, Alice in Wonderland, the Routemaster bus - ironic perhaps, given its recent withdrawal from service - the King James Bible, the Angel of the North, and William Blake's Jerusalem.
Organisers of Icons want the public to nominate hundreds of ideas, creating a portrait of England and kindling debate. The starting list has already attracted controversy and was dismissed by the historian David Starkey as "quaint and banal".
So which symbols do you think are missing from the initial list? Perhaps there should be a space for Chicken Tikka Masala - described as the national dish by the late Robin Cook - James Bond, fish and chips, a beefeater, a policeman's hat, Harry Potter, and a cricket bat. Or what about abandoned shopping trolleys in rivers, binge drinking, lots and lots of rain, or glamour model Jordan ... as the Sun suggests?
The project is part of a trend to try and define English identity. Most commentators think the Scottish and Welsh, for example, have a much better idea of theirs.
An advisory board will debate the nominations and rule why, for example, a cup of tea deserves to be on there more than a frothy pint of bitter or a red phone box. It is hoped that the Icons project, which is funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and forms part of its Culture Online website, will boost the interest in English heritage and increase museum attendances.
Commenting on the first 12 icons, David Starkey told today's Sun: "It seems like a desperate attempt to invent something that's not there. Unlike Scotland, Wales and Ireland, whose nationalism is based on their culture, England's is not. Historically, English nationalism has more to do with being best and first."
Writer and philosopher Roger Scruton, meanwhile, told the newspaper: "Henry VIII was more Welsh than English. Holbein was born in Germany. Tea? That came from India."
