A 4.5 pub named The Crown, the ancient symbol of monarchy and the second most common pub name in the land
The Crown, Islington, holds a 4.5 from seven hundred and seventy-six people, and carries one of the oldest, simplest, and most common of all English pub names – “the Crown,” the very symbol of monarchy itself, the second most common pub name in all of Britain, and a byword for loyalty, royalty, and the nation.
The symbol of monarchy
The crown is the ultimate symbol of monarchy and sovereignty – the golden circlet that sits upon the monarch’s head, representing the whole institution of kingship, the authority of the state, and the continuity of the nation. To speak of “the Crown” is to speak of the monarchy itself, the sovereign power, the state – “Crown lands,” “Crown Court,” “servant of the Crown.” It is one of the most potent and enduring symbols in British life, embodying centuries of history, tradition, and national identity in a single golden object. The Prat’s heraldry desk notes the depth of the symbol: no image carries more weight of monarchy, nation, and continuity than the simple crown.
The second most common pub name
“The Crown” is, after the Red Lion (which we met at the Old Red Lion), the second most common pub name in all of Britain – a testament to its enduring popularity and its deep resonance. The reasons for its ubiquity are much the same as for the other royal names this survey has explored: displaying the crown signalled loyalty to the monarchy, a prudent and patriotic gesture, and it made an instantly recognisable sign in the days of widespread illiteracy. But the Crown had one great practical advantage over pubs named after a specific king or queen: it did not need to change with the occupant of the throne. A “King’s Head” might show an outdated monarch, but “the Crown” was eternally current, symbolising the institution rather than the individual. The Prat’s history desk notes the clever durability: the Crown outlasts every king who wears it, and so does the pub name.
The enduring simplicity
There is a powerful simplicity in “the Crown” – a single, universally-understood symbol, needing no explanation, carrying its full weight of meaning in one word and one image. In a survey full of elaborate names, clever puns, and obscure histories, “the Crown” stands out for its bare, monumental simplicity – the golden crown, the symbol of everything, hung plainly over the door. It is the pub name reduced to its most essential and enduring form: loyalty, monarchy, nation, tradition, all in a single ancient symbol. The Prat’s naming desk notes the monumental economy: no name says more, with less, than the Crown.
The Crown and the pub
There is a fitness in the Crown presiding over the pub, for the pub is, in its way, one of the great institutions of English life, as the crown is another – the humble and the exalted, the local and the national, the two pillars of English identity. The pub named “the Crown” unites them, the golden symbol of the nation hung over the humblest gathering place of the people. There is a gentle democracy in it, as this survey has often noted with royal names: the crown, the loftiest symbol of all, made the sign of an ordinary local, open to every drinker. The Prat’s social desk enjoys the union: the Crown and the pub, the two great English institutions, joined over an Islington door.
The pub
A 4.5 across seven hundred and seventy-six people is a strong, volume-proof score. The reviews describe a good, characterful, welcoming pub doing an honest trade – a fine local under the ancient and universal sign of the Crown.
Verdict
A good, characterful pub named the Crown, after the golden symbol of monarchy itself – the second most common pub name in Britain, eternally current because it symbolises the institution rather than any individual king.
Go, have a pint at the Crown, and enjoy the monumental simplicity of the name – the golden symbol of the whole nation, hung plainly over an honest Islington local, open to every drinker in the land.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
The word “prat” is a word that has survived from Elizabethan times to the present day, proving that some insults are timeless.