ICONS can now reveal the latest wave of English icons joining the likes of the Spitfire, fish and chips and cup of tea as symbols of national pride and identity includes Glastonbury Festival, the black cab and queuing. Other cultural gems making the grade include chicken tikka masala and Land Rover.

“It’s great news and wonderful to think Glastonbury Festival has been recognised by the British public as a national institution of iconic status,” said Michael Eavis, the festival's founder and a recent recipient of a CBE. Eavis was delighted to hear the massively popular event has been deemed a paragon of this country.

"If I had to choose one motorcar as a quintessential reflection of this country, I would have to go with the Land Rover. It is the embodiment of British bulldog spirit," said ex-Top Gear presenter, Quentin Willson. 

The ICONS project will reach its culmination - 100 English icons - by June 2008. As a result,  the ICONS team will be unveiling the last cultural gems – the final pieces of the ICONS jigsaw – over subsequent months. The pressing question is - what will they be?…

ICONS – A Portrait of England is a flagship site commissioned by the DCMS’ Culture Online and sustained by Culture24.

Words: Aline Tanner