God Save the King is the national anthem of the United Kingdom and several Commonwealth realms, sung as God Save the Queen when the monarch is female. Its author is unknown, and the tune was first widely printed and performed in London in the 1740s, becoming established by tradition rather than by law. The anthem is played at royal, state and sporting occasions. Online, the familiar opening is reused as audio shorthand for anything exaggeratedly British, from royal parodies and football edits to ironic tributes to tea, guards and London landmarks.