The most familiar colour variant is the "British Blue", with a solid grey-blue coat, pineapple eyes, and a medium-sized tail.

It remains the most popular pedigreed breed in its native country, as registered by the UK's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF).

[1] The breed's relatively calm temperament make it a frequent media star, notably as the inspiration for John Tenniel's famous illustration of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

Over the centuries, their naturally isolated descendants developed into distinctively large, robust cats with a short but very thick coat, to better withstand conditions on their native islands.

Some sources directly credit UK artist and pioneering cat fancier Harrison Weir with the initial concept of standardising the breed.

The new British Shorthair was featured at the first-ever cat show, organised by Weir and held at the Crystal Palace in London in 1871, and enjoyed great initial popularity.

[citation needed] This contributed to another shortage of pure breeding stock by World War II, at which point the Persian and Russian Blue were reintroduced into the mix.

[7] The British Shorthair is a relatively powerful-looking, large cat having a broad chest, strong thick-set legs with rounded paws, and a medium-length, blunt-tipped tail.

[8] They are slow to mature in comparison with most cat breeds, reaching full physical development at approximately three years of age.

It is very dense, the texture being plush rather than woolly or fluffy, with a firm, "crisp" pile that breaks noticeably over the cat's body as it moves.

Black, blue, white, red, cream, silver, golden and—most recently—cinnamon and fawn are accepted by all official standards, either solid or in colourpoint, tabby, shaded and bicolour patterns; the GCCF, FIFe and TICA also accept chocolate and its dilute lilac, disallowed in the CFA standard.

[13] The British Shorthair breed debuted — along with a wide range of other selectively bred felines — in the first organized cat show arranged by Harrison Weir at London's Crystal Palace in 1871.

[24] HCM testing of males used for breeding is now mandatory for breeders organised under the Danish Fife member, Felis Danica.

[27] In 2022, the British Shorthair was one of eight cats featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail.