Red Lion (inn)

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Outnumbered only by The Crown, the Red Lion is the second most common name for a United Kingdom pub,[1] with over 600 pubs bearing the name.[2] It thus is a stand-in descriptor of the archetypal English pub. Pubs are often named after heraldic animals and devices, of which the lion is particularly common one. The lion appears as a supporter in the Royal Coat of arms of the United Kingdom. However, the only red lion appears in the royal arms of Scotland. An alternative origin is that it was the emblem of the influential 14th century figure John of Gaunt, which led to many early pubs adopting the name.[2]

"Red Lion" pubs exist throughout the United Kingdom. A particularly famous "Red Lion" is one located at 48 Parliament Street in the City of Westminster in London. This pub is known to be frequented by members of the British Parliament and others who work in British politics and government. Its televisions, rather than carrying sport, instead show BBC Parliament coverage, so that MPs can know what they are missing while they have slipped out for a pint, and the pub even rings a division bell to alert its customers of an upcoming vote.

The first classes of Rutgers University in New Jersey were famously taught in a pub named "Sign of the Red Lion." From this origin comes the name of one of the University's oldest secret societies, the Order of the Red Lion.

In 2005, it was revealed that there was an exact replica of the Parliament Street pub in a government nuclear bunker beneath Wiltshire (see Burlington). The pub was given a more rural-sounding name, however: The Rose and Crown.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Strange Names
  2. ^ a b Dunkling L, Wright G [1987] (1994). The Wordsworth Dictionary of Pub Names. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Reference. ISBN 1-85326-334-6. 
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