No easy task: Rebranding nations harder than renaming products

Five years ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan directed the world to stop confusing the heirs of one of history’s greatest empires with a Thanksgiving bird.

Searching for Turkey on Google yielded images and articles that conflated the country with Meleagris — the bird famed for holiday dinners. State media pointedly announced that in English, "turkey" also meant something that failed badly. The government urged the world's 1.5 billion English speakers to abandon a label associated with defeat and roasted poultry.

Yet rebranding a country — as Naoero, formerly Nauru, attempted at the United Nations this week — remains a complex endeavour.

Corporate missteps like New Coke or Netflix’s botched Quikster service are routine fixtures of market capitalism. Corporate identity can be altered overnight with a marketing budget. National rebranding, however, touches deep cultural nerves: independence movements, armed conflicts, ethnic divisions, and contesting interpretations of historical events.

Some changes take root quickly, while others struggle against entrenched habit. Siam became Thailand in 1939 to foster ethnic unity and shed a foreign label, a shift adopted across almost all English-speaking countries. Conversely, certain name changes face criticism as demagogic moves. For instance, executive orders by US President Donald Trump targeting geographic features sparked debate, while Erdogan’s push for Türkiye met flak at home, where critics viewed it as autocratic.

Linguistic heritage plays an equally decisive role. The Portuguese name "Costa do Marfim" first appeared on 17th-century nautical charts when ivory dominated trade along that West African coast. France ruled the territory from 1893 until 1960. Upon independence, the nation retained its French colonial name — Côte d’Ivoire — unlike many African peers. Its founding president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, favoured economic cooperation with France over a sharp rupture. Linguists noted that selecting a name from one of the country's 60-odd languages risked favouring one community, making the French name an acceptable neutral label.

In 1985, the government requested the UN to use strictly the French "Côte d’Ivoire", asking for an end to translations like "Ivory Coast" or "Costa de Marfil". The UN acknowledged the plea that the French title should no longer be treated as a generic geographical term. Yet universal adoption remains elusive, largely due to the subtle linguistic demands placed on non-French speakers.

By contrast, when Swaziland renamed itself the Kingdom of Eswatini in April 2018, the transition proved straightforward. That simple change gained broad international traction within a few years.

In a world where English is spoken by nearly 20% of humanity, the language seeps into cinema, television, and music. In such an environment, reasserting native tongues requires immense momentum. When Siam became Thailand, the global public adjusted quickly. Today, diners look for Thai restaurants, leaving the older moniker mainly to cat enthusiasts admiring the sleek Siamese breed.

As for Turkey, Erdogan argued in December 2021 that the century-old Turkish name Türkiye was better suited to his nation. As Turkey’s most influential leader since independence hero Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Erdogan has steered the republic towards a more conservative character over two decades. Seeking to restore historic glory, he ordered that national values be treated with utmost care.

External observers, however, detected political self-interest. Ali Fuad Selvi, an associate professor of English at the University of Alabama, noted that the move aimed to consolidate presidential authority and elevate Erdogan's status as a national leader.

Turkey formally notified the UN in June 2022 and international bodies complied immediately, along with NATO. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric confirmed the change became effective the moment Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received the official request. Many entities like the US State Department now use "Türkiye", though some British travel advisories still refer to "Turkey". Media organisations remain split; news agencies like The Associated Press continue to use "Turkey" based on common English usage and global familiarity, keeping the style under regular review.

Similar dynamics unfolded for Cabo Verde. In 2013, the Portuguese-speaking archipelago asked the UN to stop translating its name as "Cape Verde" or "Cap-Vert". Prime Minister José Maria Neves said the country needed to reinforce its identity, standardise its designation, and consolidate the brand around diplomacy, tourism, and Creole hospitality.

That branding effort found its largest global platform during the 2026 World Cup. FIFA consistently called the team Cabo Verde as the tournament debutants held Spain to a scoreless draw and reached the knockout stage before a vast global audience.