<continuing drift
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In '82 I got my FAA PPL 'on the basis of' my then UK one by walking into the FAA Field Office at BWI (without an appointment). The bored FAA folk there could not have been more helpful: free coffee and doughnuts, presumably USG-paid, while they looked up what to do, found the right forms, and started to fill them in... But I do remember them being about to write in the field marked 'country of issue' (of the applicant's PPL) 'England', and so I had to stop them to say it should be 'United Kingdom'. They had not heard of that, so I had to explain that there had been no government of 'England' since 1707, which surprised them!
We were one of 2 Brit families with sons in a local Boy Scout troop. We decided to have a UK-themed evening to educate the other boys and attending parents (mostly fathers; it was commendably routine for fathers there to join the Leaders in many Scout activities), including explanation of the composition of the UK. ISTR it ended with the Americans, after coaching in pronunciation and melody, singing
Hen wlad fy nhadau Of course the UK Olympic team uses the abbreviation 'GBR', but there are separate teams for the constituent nations (including IoM and individual CIs) in the Commonwealth Games. Analogously, ISTR Norfolk Islanders compete for Australia at the Olympics, but have their own team at the Commonwealth Games. There may be other examples.
<further nerdish swerve
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Until the 1928 ICAO meeting on the topic, it was not only UK aircraft which had a large G on the tail, but also some Commonwealth and Empire ones: Canada had G-C registrations. At the meeting it was agreed that only UK would use G (but have exclusive use of all the Gs, and of the Ms); and USA monopoly of the 'N's*. Most of the Commonwealth/Empire went to Vs (which they still use), including Newfoundland with 'VO-' (until Confederation in 1949), but Canada started on 'CF-'s with anticipated control also of at least 'CG-'s.
*briefly but unofficially some Newfoundland aircraft had had 'NF-'s </>
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Back to topic: it seems clear that the IVR change from GB to UK for vehicles is a UK government initiative, properly but AFAIK without fanfare notified to the UN a while ago. Any discussion why this may or may not have been a Good Thing might quickly get political ..
(mere guide at) Jet Age Museum, Gloucestershire Airport
http://www.jetagemuseum.org/TripAdvisor Excellence Award 2015
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction ... gland.html