England’s national day, St George’s Day falls on April 23rd, but St George wasn’t even English…
What’s St George’s Day all about?
St George’s Day is England’s national day and is celebrated every year on April 23rd. The day remembers St George – England’s patron saint.
St George, a Christian martyr, is reported to never have set foot in the country, despite this we English have taken him under our wing and made him the symbol of our nation.
His emblem is a red cross on a white background, which is England’s flag and forms part of the Union Flag – the flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Legend has it that St George slayed a dragon and saved a princess when he was a soldier in the Roman army.
How does England celebrate?
Up until the union of England and Scotland in 1707, St George’s Day was actually a public holiday in England. The holiday was almost as widely celebrated as Christmas.
Nowadays people go to work as normal. Despite this each year there is a new petition that surfaces pushing for our national day to become a Bank Holiday although it is reported that each bank holiday costs Britain £2.4bn in lost work so highly unlikely this is ever going to happen!
Scotland get a Bank Holiday for St Andrew’s Day and Ireland for St Patrick’s Day so surely now is the time for England and Wales to start celebrating our patron saints too?
Who was St George?
St George was apparently born in Turkey around the year 280.
As a soldier, he quickly rose through the ranks of the Roman army.
However, protesting against the pagan Emperor’s persecution of Christians he was later imprisoned and tortured before being dragged through the streets and beheaded in Palestine on April 23rd, 303.
In 1222 the Council of Oxford declared April 23rd to be St George’s Day. However, it wasn’t until 1348 that St George became the Patron Saint of England.
St George’s cross emblem was adopted by Richard The Lion Heart and brought to England in the 12th century. The king’s soldiers wore it on their uniforms during battle to avoid confusion.
