whilst all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, claims to represent the whole island of Ireland and not merely the Republic. The OCI and the BOA have an agreement under which Northern Ireland sportspeople may choose to compete for either team. The BOA has rejected calls for the name to be changed to Team UK, arguing that neither Team GB nor Team UK are entirely accurate, given that neither term covers all the members of its association, and that Team GB is an "effective trading name that fitted best with the Olympic identification of GBR". The existence of a Team GB has been criticised by Welsh and Scottish nationalists, advocating for separate Welsh and Scottish olympic teams instead. Criticism of specific sport teams representing Great Britain instead of their home nations have also been voiced, especially in association football where the four nations compete separately, and fears a GB football team would threaten their separate national football teams. Some Welsh footballers, playing for a GB Olympic football team, did not sing "God Save the Queen", the national anthem used, in 2012, facing some criticism, however the team's manager stated it was a personal decision. Reception The Team GB branding has been credited with creating a 'team feel', and direct comparisons were made of the performance at the 1996 Olympic Games in which the BOA's representatives won one gold medal, and the 2000 games where Great Britain and Northern Ireland performed under the Team GB name and returned with eleven gold medals. Comedian and columnist David Mitchell described the BOA's decision to create a nickname and rebrand their representative team as "capitalism's final victory" and "pathetic", going on to say that anyone who thought rebranding the Olympic squad has helped win more medals "are either morons or they think our athletes are". Scottish columnist Gerry Hassan commented that "Team GB represents something which is a fiction and an illusion which doesn't correspond with any political form". Victory parade A celebratory parade took place on 10 September 2012, commemorating the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Arms References External links Team GB homepage British brands 1999 introductions