St George's Cross

The St George's Cross, a red cross on a white background. It is believed that the origins of the flag came from the earlier plain white tunics worn by the crusaders.

The St George's Cross is the national flag of England and was adopted for the uniform of English soldiers during the military expeditions by European powers to recapture the Holy Land from Muslims (Crusades of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries), and on or about 1277 it officially became the national flag of England. After the union of England with Scotland a British Flag was created in 1606, initially for maritime display; however, the flag of England (as opposed to the United Kingdom) remains St George's Cross, and continues to be used when showing allegiance to England alone; primarily nowadays at events such as international football and rugby union competitions.

Saint George is the patron saint of England and various other countries and regions. The St George Cross is also the symbol of Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Freiburg and Montreal; and used, for example, in the flag of the city of Barcelona in Spain, and it appears on the flag of Georgia. The Lega Nord, a popular Italian political party campaigning for the independence of Northern Italy, also uses the St George Cross as an official symbol.

The flag of St George is also the rank flag of an Admiral in the Royal Navy, and civilian craft are forbidden to fly it. However, ships which took part in the rescue operation at Dunkirk during World War II are allowed to fly it as a jack.

The flag of St George should not be confused with the flag of the Red Cross. The flag of St George has a red cross which reaches from edge to edge of the flag. The flag of the red cross, like the Swiss flag, has a cross which does not reach the edges.

It has only recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity fuelled partly by football-inspired nationalism, but also by the devolution movements in Scotland and Wales asserting a separate identity. Until the mid-90s, it was the Union Jack which was used to support the English football team - even, bizarrely, at games against Scotland where it was literally the flag of both nations.

St George

St George is the patron saint of England and among the most famous of Christian figures. But of the man himself, nothing is known with certainty. Our earliest source, Eusebius of Caesarea, writing c. 322, tells of a soldier of noble birth who was put to death under Diocletian at Nicomedia on 23 April, 303, but makes no mention of his name, his country or his place of burial. According to the apocryphal Acts of St George current in various versions in the Eastern Church from the fifth century, George held the rank of tribune in the Roman army and was beheaded by Diocletian for protesting against the Emperor's persecution of Christians. George rapidly became venerated throughout Christendom as an example of bravery in defence of the poor and the defenceless and of the Christian faith.

George was probably first made well known in England by Arculpus and Adamnan in the early eighth century. The Acts of St George, which recounted his visits to Caerleon and Glastonbury while on service in England, were translated into Anglo-Saxon. Among churches dedicated to St George was one at Doncaster in 1061. George was adopted as the patron saint of soldiers after he was said to have appeared to the Crusader army at the Battle of Antioch in 1098. Many similar stories were transmitted to the West by Crusaders who had heard them from Byzantine troops, and were circulated further by the troubadours. When Richard 1 was campaigning in Palestine in 1191-92 he put the army under the protection of St George.

Because of his widespread following, particularly in the Near East, and the many miracles attributed to him, George became universally recognized as a saint sometime after 900. Originally, veneration as a saint was authorized by local bishops but, after a number of scandals, the Popes began in the twelfth century to take control of the procedure and to systematize it. A lesser holiday in honour of St George, to be kept on 23 April, was declared by the Synod of Oxford in 1222; and St George had become acknowledged as Patron Saint of England by the end of the fourteenth century. In 1415, the year of Agincourt, Archbishop Chichele raised St George's Day to a great feast and ordered it to be observed like Christmas Day. In 1778 the holiday reverted to a simple day of devotion for English Catholics.

In more modern times, St George was chosen by Baden-Powell, its founder, to be patron of the Scouting Movement, and on St George's Day, scouts are bidden to remember their Promise and the Scout Law. Baden-Powell recounted in Scouting for Boys that the Knights of the Round Table 'had as their patron saint St George because he was the only one of all the saints who was a horseman. He is the patron saint of cavalry, from which the word chivalry is derived'.

In 1940, when the civilian population of Britain was subjected to mass bombing by the Luftwaffe, King George V1 instituted the George Cross for 'acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger'. The award, which is second only to the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration, is usually given to civilians and can be given posthumously. The award consists of a silver cross. On one side is depicted St George slaying the dragon, with the inscription,'For Gallantry'; on the other appear the name of the holder and the date of the award. For lesser, but still outstanding acts of courage, the King created the George Medal. This also is a silver cross, with on one side the reigning monarch and on the other St George slaying the dragon. The island of Malta was awarded the George Cross for its heroism in resisting attack during World War 11. Some confusion has arisen from the revision of its Calendar of Saints by the Roman Catholic Church in 1969. Saints have long been honoured with different degrees of solemnity. What the Catholic Church did was to downgrade the recollection of St George to the lowest category, commemoration, an optional memorial for local observance. St George is still venerated in a large number of places, by followers of particular occupations and sufferers from certain diseases. George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to St Mark). He is patron of soldiers, cavalry and chivalry; of farmers and field workers, Boy Scouts and butchers; of horses, riders and saddlers; and of sufferers from leprosy.

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See also

St George