It was on the English wiki, and I read it on the comm somewhere too.
I don't think that he is the UK though, he only represents it and calls the shots for his brothers as well as his own. Which is exactly how out government works IRL. The other countries would know that he is England, but also know that he is calling the shots for his brothers as the representative of the UK. Well, according to official merch, my japanese teacher and Himaruya, igirisu can mean both. And as I said in my comment below, Himaruya has called him England in canon- and this was no mistake. The UK is not a country and therefore does not have a football team, in the strip he is wearing the England kit and there are England flags.
Another point, and possible the most important considering the whole basis of the series, is the stereotypes. Arthur is 100% stereotypically English. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the stereotypes for Scottish, Welsh and Irish people, but they are very different. Some do cross over, but overall they are not the same. The most important one of course is the accents, but the way in which they behave and behave towards each other is also very important. The whole posh gentleman thing? complete opposite of the stereotype for Scottish people. He does not account for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland stereotypically at all.
1) Just because he gets called England doesn't mean that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland didn't exist at this point though. They could be off somewhere else fighting or something. Again, he'll just speak for them but he isn't the UK. 2) Majority of his history takes place before the UK was formed, so everyone would be calling him England for ages anyway. How are the other countries supposed to know that he will eventually become the UK or Britain? They can't see the future. 3) If Arthur is England then he will speak English and UK or Britain just sounds plain awkward in it. I can't imagine America saying "Hi UK!" or "Hey Britain" because it doesn't sound right. The whole sticking to the igirisu = UK thing would not work at all because of history and the fact that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland exist.
Fandom chooses to use England because a) It does not sound awkward. (I am not sure how it good it sounds in other languages though) b) It is always accurate, he has always been England, but not always been representing the UK and c) The stereotypes that the character is based on are English ones.
If Funi had called him England, they would be accurate. Calling him England does not mean Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland didn't participate in the war. It just means that they are separate countries/characters (which they are), but England is only present in the Hetalia strip about the war.
As long as wherever the Union Jack is used, I think they should always write UK; because this is when he is representing it. However he should be called England by others, because that is who he is the anthropomorphism of.
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I don't think that he is the UK though, he only represents it and calls the shots for his brothers as well as his own. Which is exactly how out government works IRL. The other countries would know that he is England, but also know that he is calling the shots for his brothers as the representative of the UK. Well, according to official merch, my japanese teacher and Himaruya, igirisu can mean both. And as I said in my comment below, Himaruya has called him England in canon- and this was no mistake. The UK is not a country and therefore does not have a football team, in the strip he is wearing the England kit and there are England flags.
Another point, and possible the most important considering the whole basis of the series, is the stereotypes. Arthur is 100% stereotypically English. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the stereotypes for Scottish, Welsh and Irish people, but they are very different. Some do cross over, but overall they are not the same. The most important one of course is the accents, but the way in which they behave and behave towards each other is also very important. The whole posh gentleman thing? complete opposite of the stereotype for Scottish people. He does not account for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland stereotypically at all.
1) Just because he gets called England doesn't mean that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland didn't exist at this point though. They could be off somewhere else fighting or something. Again, he'll just speak for them but he isn't the UK. 2) Majority of his history takes place before the UK was formed, so everyone would be calling him England for ages anyway. How are the other countries supposed to know that he will eventually become the UK or Britain? They can't see the future. 3) If Arthur is England then he will speak English and UK or Britain just sounds plain awkward in it. I can't imagine America saying "Hi UK!" or "Hey Britain" because it doesn't sound right. The whole sticking to the igirisu = UK thing would not work at all because of history and the fact that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland exist.
Fandom chooses to use England because a) It does not sound awkward. (I am not sure how it good it sounds in other languages though) b) It is always accurate, he has always been England, but not always been representing the UK and c) The stereotypes that the character is based on are English ones.
If Funi had called him England, they would be accurate. Calling him England does not mean Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland didn't participate in the war. It just means that they are separate countries/characters (which they are), but England is only present in the Hetalia strip about the war.
As long as wherever the Union Jack is used, I think they should always write UK; because this is when he is representing it. However he should be called England by others, because that is who he is the anthropomorphism of.