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Singing patriotic songs and waving Union Jack flags, thousands of Britons flocked to a muddy patch of grass outside parliament  to watch their moment of history: Britain's departure from the European Union.

Britain's 2300 GMT exit from the EU ends 47 years of union with Europe. It also draws a line under a bitter and divisive four-year wrangle over whether, when and how the country should cut its ties to the bloc.

While Prime Minister Boris Johnson, synonymous with Brexit because of his role in the 2016 'Leave' campaign, kept a low profile at a private reception in his office, more than 5000 people gathered just down the road to loudly celebrate the moment.

"This is a fantastic day, A really really fantastic day. It's been a long time coming," said Tony Williams (53) from south-east London.

"We are free, from 11 o'clock, we have done it, and it is a great, great pleasure. We have done it."

Brexit supporters young and old packed into Parliament Square to hear Brexit's other talisman, campaigner Nigel Farage, and revel in a mix of nostalgia, patriotism and defiance.

“I never thought it would happen - my goodness! I’m not going to get drunk or anything but it’s a remarkable thing to happen given that the whole establishment of this country was in favour of the European project,” said Christopher Cook, 73, business owner from Amersham, near London.

A video montage providing a potted history of Britain's relationship with Europe drew pantomime boos for proponents of the EU like former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, while anti-EU figures like Johnson, Farage and Margaret Thatcher were loudly cheered.

Attendees sang Land of Hope and Glory, with words projected on a big screen, there were impromptu bursts of the national anthem God Save the Queen, and a live band performed Rule Britannia - a centuries-old song celebrating Britain's one-time naval dominance.

The crowd spilled into surrounding streets, where many defied a ban on alcohol despite a heavy police presence. Two men wearing Farage masks said the number of officers was oppressive and threatened to spoil a good night.

However, as the clock ticked down on a decision that has torn at the constitution and divided the nation from cabinet table to family dinner table, there was no visible counter-protest from the millions who voted to remain in the EU.

Some self-professed 'remainers' had come along to witness the moment for themselves.

"It's quite a dark day for me personally but of course I'm here to celebrate," joked David Robinson, a 38-year-old finance worker, clutching a can of lager.

"I couldn't not turn up. When the Berlin wall was coming down, you couldn't just go home and have a cup of tea."

"For many people, this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come," said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "This is the dawn of a new era."

Johnson celebrated with English sparkling wine and a distinctly British array of canapes including Shropshire blue cheese and Yorkshire puddings with beef and horseradish.

JOY AND ANGER 

The UK has left the EU with a mixture of joy, anger and indifference, casting off into the unknown after nearly five decades and dealing a blow to Europe's drive to forge unity from the ruins of World War 2.

The EU's most powerful leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, saw Brexit as a sad moment that was a turning point for Europe. The EU warned that leaving would be worse than staying.

In the United Kingdom's biggest geopolitical upheaval since its post-war loss of empire, it turns its back on 47 years of membership and must begin charting its own course for generations to come.

At the stroke of midnight in Brussels, the EU will lose 15% of its economy, its biggest military spender and the world's international financial capital - London.

In Brussels, the British flag was lowered at the EU council building and the bloc's flag, a circle of 12 stars on a blue background, was removed from outside the British embassy.

Leaving the EU was once far-fetched: the UK joined in 1973 as “the sick man of Europe” and less than two decades ago British leaders were arguing about whether to join the euro.

But the turmoil of the euro zone crisis, fears about mass immigration and a series of miscalculations by former Prime Minister David Cameron prompted the 52% to 48% vote to leave.

ANTICLIMAX?

The final parting of the EU's most recalcitrant member is an anticlimax of sorts. Beyond the symbolism, little will change until the end of 2020.

By then, Johnson has promised to strike a broad free trade agreement with the EU, the world's biggest trading bloc.

"These negotiations certainly won’t be easy," Merkel said, cautioning London that if it deviated from the EU's rules then its access to the bloc's vast single market would be limited.

Macron said Britain it could not expect to be treated the same way as when it was part of the club.

"You can't be in and out," Macron told the French in a televised address. "The British people chose to leave the European Union. It won't have the same obligations, so it will no longer have the same rights."

U.S. President Donald Trump has long supported Brexit. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Britons wanted to escape the "tyranny of Brussels".

Some Britons will celebrate and others will weep - but many will do neither.

'INDEPENDENCE DAY'

For proponents, Brexit is "independence day" - an escape from what they cast as a doomed German-dominated project with a doomed single currency that is failing its 500 million people.

They hope departure will herald reforms to reshape Britain and propel it ahead of its European rivals.

"Well for three and a half years they’ve been trying to stop it from happening, but we are getting our independence back," Mark Leeds, a 39-year-old butcher, told Reuters beside parliament.

Opponents say Brexit is a folly that will weaken the West, torpedo what is left of Britain's global clout, undermine its economy and ultimately leave the United Kingdom a less cosmopolitan set of islands in the northern Atlantic.

David Tucker, a pro-European of 75, said he had come to London from Wales to march in the hope that others would keep alive the hope that Britain would one day rejoin the EU.

"It is a tragedy," he said. "We were once part of the world's most powerful economic bloc. Now we are just an inward-looking island that is going to get smaller."

But Brexit was always about much more than Europe.

The referendum exposed deep divisions and triggered soul-searching about everything from secession and immigration to empire and modern Britishness.

Brexit has tested the very fabric of the supposedly united kingdom: England and Wales voted to leave the bloc but Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay.

But after the twists and turns of three-and-a-half years, many voters are simply happy the wrangling is over. "I just wanted to see it done with," said Lee Stokes, a 44-year-old project manager.