St George`s day

[Galician]

Actually, I would have said that you are the one doing any flaming, but since my own national origins seem to render my take on the comment irrelevant to you, I shall leave you to your opinion.

[English Bloke]

Actually, he would have been Greek, as were most inhabitants of that region until the invasion of the Turks during the Middle Ages.

Another actually? Gor Blimey Guv!

Actually he was born in Cappadocia. Cappadocia is NOW most definately in Turkey... or it was last time I was there. But you are right of course, St George? definately not Turkish... 1 point to you sir... Thankyou for pointing that out.

Not sure about the Greek though, not in a riding a moped everywhere, 1.12 Euros to the Pound, zatsiki and pita, Shirley Valentine sort of Greek anyway. Much like Cappadocia isn't (or wasn't) Turkey. Could it not be argued that as his Dad was a Roman Army Bloke (Cappadocia Detachment? probably Armenian) and his Mum was a Palastinian he was possibly more Roman than Greek? In the broad sense of course. He was born around 250AD and Cappadocia became a Roman Province in 17AD under Emperor Tiberius and after that was Byzantine... Do we really care? Does anyone really care?

Happy St George's Day!

[Woot22]

Yikes, I am feeling the love in here. But seriously, I do wish my English brothers and sisters a very happy St. Georges Day.

Quick questions to help educate myself, how is St Georges Day celebrated? Is it only celebrated in England on this day? How did St George become the patron saint of England or is he the patron saint of all of Great Britain or is he not even the patron saint? Help out a clueless American cousin here.

[O'Callaghan]

now now there`s no need for affective prejudice i thought this was a friendly site that welcomes folk from all parts of the world regadless of country

I can say that because I am English in fact, although a bit Irish on my mother's side. There is a St. George's tartan, you know. I think it's the only tartan representing England, as opposed to particular parts of England, like Cornwall, Devon, etc. Naturally I thought you'd all be attired in kilts made from the St. George's tartan to commemorate the occasion.

[skauwt]

I can say that because I am English in fact, although a bit Irish on my mother's side. There is a St. George's tartan, you know. I think it's the only tartan representing England, as opposed to particular parts of England, like Cornwall, Devon, etc. Naturally I thought you'd all be attired in kilts made from the St. George's tartan to commemorate the occasion.

ahh ok no worries my apologies for being touchy ,
well im scots with a wee bit or irish blood so no st george`s tartan for me im afraid ,
though if myself and the misses have kids theyd be 1/2scots 1/4 irish 1/4 english hence why my post for st georges day (dont want the inlaws feeling left out) ,but i must admit the st george tartan does look rather nice with those colours
http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar....aspx?ref=5822

[English Bloke]

Woot 22.
To attempt to answer you questions...

Pretty much ignored by the majority truth be known? It's not considered the done thing in England to express ones englishness in a forthright way and only about a fifth of the English population know when Saint George's day is and a quarter don't know he is England's patron Saint. Bit of a sad turnout really. Certainly nothing like Saint Patrick's Day anyway.

Saint George has been followed as a bit of a cult bloke in England since the 9th century but became Patron Saint of England sometime in the 14th Century knocking Saint Edmund off the number one slot.

He was basically a downright good egg although the slaying of dragons is a might far fetched. He impressed Edward the Confessor emmencely as the epitomy of a chilvalrous knight. Edward having a sizable amount of pull at the time decided he was the man for us.

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) put him firmly on the map in Henry V with the rallying cry of "God for Harry, England and Saint George,” . Interesting to note - William Shakespeare was born AND died on 23 April, St George's Day.

No doubt this post will be followed by an actually or two so pay attention at the back...

[Woot22]

No doubt this post will be followed by an actually or two so pay attention at the back...

Awesome!

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Woot 22.
To attempt to answer you questions...

Pretty much ignored by the majority truth be known? It's not considered the done thing in England to express ones englishness in a forthright way and only about a fifth of the English population know when Saint George's day is and a quarter don't know he is England's patron Saint. Bit of a sad turnout really. Certainly nothing like Saint Patrick's Day anyway.

Saint George has been followed as a bit of a cult bloke in England since the 9th century but became Patron Saint of England sometime in the 14th Century knocking Saint Edmund off the number one slot.

He was basically a downright good egg although the slaying of dragons is a might far fetched. He impressed Edward the Confessor emmencely as the epitomy of a chilvalrous knight. Edward having a sizable amount of pull at the time decided he was the man for us.

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) put him firmly on the map in Henry V with the rallying cry of "God for Harry, England and Saint George,” . Interesting to note - William Shakespeare was born AND died on 23 April, St George's Day.

No doubt this post will be followed by an actually or two so pay attention at the back...

ACTUALLY-- I think that about says it all.

[Cerebite]

Yikes, I am feeling the love in here. But seriously, I do wish my English brothers and sisters a very happy St. Georges Day.

Quick questions to help educate myself, how is St Georges Day celebrated? Is it only celebrated in England on this day? How did St George become the patron saint of England or is he the patron saint of all of Great Britain or is he not even the patron saint? Help out a clueless American cousin here.

To answer the "Great Britain" and a little bit of the patron saint question with a vexological [study of flags] lesson.

Take a close look at English Blokes avatar. It is a graphic of the contributing components of the flag of Great Britain. The flag in the top left is the Flag of St George, the patron saint of England. This is often seen on the kit of the English national soccer/ football team and their supporters. Next to that is the Saltare, the flag of St Andrew and Scotland and from which we get the "X" of this forums title. The third contributor to the UK national ensign is that of St Patrick, on the center right, patron of Ireland.
It will take a better historian than I to explain why there is no representation of St David, his rampant lion, or Wales in this ensign.

So, no St George is not the patron saint of all of Great Britain but only of England, the other nations of the United Kingdom each have their own patron saints [Andrew, Patrick, David]. As to how well respected/ honored/ celebrated the date is I will leave to others to comment and respond.

And now to the literal other side of the world for ANZAC day [25 Apr.]....

[Wolfhawk]

The reason the Wales is not included is that only the kingdoms of the Brits were in the flag and Wales is a principality. The following is from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag

"The blazon for the old flag, to be compared with the current flag, is Azure, the Cross Saltire of St Andrew Argent surmounted by the Cross of St George Gules, fimbriated of the second.

Wales had no explicit recognition in the Union Flag because Wales, having been annexed by Edward I of England in 1282 and following the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, was legally part of the Kingdom of England and was therefore represented by the flag of England.[12] (The present-day Flag of Wales and St David's Cross emerged, or re-emerged, in the 20th century: the former based on the historical emblem of Wales, the Red Dragon, and the latter based on the arms of the Diocese of Saint David's.)

In 2003 a private individual started a campaign – dubbed "reflag" or "Union Black" – to interpret the Union Flag in a racial context and introduce black stripes in it. The proposal was denounced by MSP Phil Gallie as "ridiculous tokenism [that] would do nothing to stamp out racism".[18]The campaign received little support from any quarter and is now defunct.

Since there is no uniquely Welsh element in the Union Flag, Wrexham’s Labour MP Ian Lucas proposed on 27 November 2007 in a House of Commons debate that the Union Flag should be combined with the Welsh flag to reflect Wales’ status within the UK, and that the Red Dragon should be added to the Union Flag's red, white and blue pattern[19]. He said the Union Flag currently only represented the other three UK nations, and Culture minister Margaret Hodge conceded that Mr Lucas had raised a valid point for debate. She said "the Government is keen to make the Union flag a positive symbol of Britishness reflecting the diversity of our country today and encouraging people to take pride in our flag". This development sparked design contests with entries from all over the world; some of the entries incorporated red dragons, St David's Cross and even anime characters and leeks.[20][21]"