Voters were left baffled today after ministers excitedly announced a change to the Government’s official website.
The Gov.uk website has received a new logo to mark the accession of King Charles to the throne.
Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, spoke of his “pride” at making entry into the “digital realm”.
But many Britons on social media were left baffled by what they described as an “almost completely imperceptible change”.
And most were simply left wondering how much the rebranding had cost.
The Gov.uk website has received a new logo to mark the accession of King Charles to the throne.
According to the Cabinet Office, the new Gov.uk logo reflects King Charles’ chosen Tudor Crown in its royal cipher.
Previously, St. Edward’s Crown was worn by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Tudor Crown is described as “a little more domed” in its appearance and will now grace the Gov.uk homepage and menu bar across the site.
In addition to Gov.uk, all other Crown instances in use across the government will also be changed to reflect Charles’s reign.
Mr Dowden said: ‘Following the accession of His Majesty the King, we are updating the state symbols to reflect the new design of the Tudor Crown.
“Digital is now an integral part of our lives and, as Her Majesty’s Government, we are proud of this change to Gov.uk today, in honor of our King’s chosen crown.”
Most of the changes to replace St Edward’s Crown with the Tudor Crown logo on Gov.uk are expected to have been made by early next month.
Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart said: ‘Gov.uk is an essential part of living, studying and working in the UK.
“Millions of people use it weekly for routine and sometimes life-changing reasons, such as accessing benefits or finding a job.
“While we are significantly updating the Gov.uk logo to reflect the new monarch’s choice of crown, this site remains the same official and trusted digital home of the UK Government.”
The new Gov.uk logo (below) reflects King Charles’ chosen Tudor crown in its royal cipher. The old logo (above) reflected St Edward’s Crown worn by Queen Elizabeth II.
Many on social media were quick to ask exactly how much the new logo change was costing the Government.
“How much taxpayer money did they spend on that almost completely imperceptible change?” one asked.
Another said: ‘Hi @OliverDowden, how much did you improve the wall with this new logo? Tell me it wasn’t more than £2.50.
Others suggested the Government could focus on other priorities.
A third wrote: “Well if it reduces NHS waiting lists and fixes some school roofs… Oh.”
Another said: “People criticize the Conservatives but at least we now have a slightly more domed crown on the Gov.uk website.”
The Cabinet Office said the expense of changing the Gov.uk logo would be “covered within the normal operating costs of the Gov.uk website”.
Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, told MailOnline the change to the Gov.uk logo was “very strange”.
“As with most things about the monarchy, it is a useless decoration that does not reflect the country as it is and instead represents a feudal institution that finds it impossible to keep up with modern times,” he added. .