ABSTRACT
In any anatomy of the cultural bond as an imperial phenomenon, it is prudent to approach the concept with chronological care. During the period of colonial overrule, cultural manifestations were expectedly at their most vigorous: in work patterns and leisure habits, in dress and speech, and throughout much imitated social behaviour. This was the moment of the cultural bond as cultural impact. On the other hand, during the post-colonial era the cultural bond tends to become looser and far more selective. This is the time of the cultural legacy. Historically, such a heritage tends to crystallize in two post-imperial areas. These are institutions and language. Catholicism, the art of the siesta, and Spanish as a national language in most of Latin America; Parliament, Clubs and the continuity no longer of driving on the left but of English in higher education throughout most of former anglophone Asia; a presidential system, cuisine rather than cooking, and the very timbre of martial music in much of francophone Africa; and the whole range of the artefacts of the Coca-Cola culture in the Philippines, Panama and Puerto Rico, all underline the essence of the respective culture legacies.
