Rule, Britannia! began as a patriotic song composed by Thomas Arne with words by James Thomson for the 1740 masque Alfred, and it later became closely associated with British naval pride and the Last Night of the Proms. Its famous chorus, declaring that Britons never shall be slaves, has kept it in public life for centuries as a symbol of national identity. Online, the anthem is often clipped for short videos, where its grand orchestral sound works equally well for sincere celebration and for ironic jokes about British culture.