The Telegraph reports the Bank of England dropped Winston Churchill from the £5 note after being told he was “elitist.” The quote says it all: “There is a boomer, imperialistic ‘we won the Second World War’ feeling to our banknotes.”
🏴 Gorgocutie explains
Alright history buffs, strap in. This one’s a doozy.
Winston Churchill served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (and again from 1951 to 1955). He led Britain through the Second World War, delivered some of the most iconic speeches in the English language (“We shall fight on the beaches”), and is widely regarded as one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century. He also won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The man was on the £5 note because — surprise — he mattered.
But the Bank of England reportedly considered dropping him from the currency because he was, in the words of their advisors, “elitist.” The specific complaint captured in the quote on this meme: the Churchill £5 note supposedly evokes a “boomer, imperialistic ‘we won the Second World War’ feeling.”
This is part of a broader trend where institutions revisit their iconography and question whether historical figures meet modern standards. Churchill is a complex figure — he held views on race and empire that were unenlightened even for his time, let alone ours. But the meme taps into a specific cultural frustration: the sense that institutions are so eager to sanitize the past that they forget these figures were placed on currency precisely because of their monumental achievements, not despite their flaws.
The Churchill £5 note was introduced in 2016, replacing Elizabeth Fry. The polymer note features Churchill’s portrait, the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben), and the quote: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” If the Bank really does drop him, it’ll be one more battle in the endless culture war over who gets to be remembered.
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