Happy St. George's Day!!!

Now you're probably wondering what this means and why there seem to be a bunch of white flags with red crosses flying today.  Well the white flag with red cross is the English flag and today is the day that we celebrate England's patron saint - St. George.  (Note:  The Union Jack - the blue flag with the red and white stripes - is the flag of the United Kingdom).

So who is St. George?  He was a Roman solider and a priest.  He is most famous for the legend of St. George & the Dragon.  According to this tale, there was a dragon that lived in a lake in Libya (because that's where dragons live, of course!).  To appease the dragon, a random child was picked to be sacrificed to the dragon.  One fateful day, the king's daughter was chosen.  The daughter dressed as a bride (why are they always dressed as brides?) made her way to the lake and awaited her fate.  St. George, who just happened to be in the neighbourhood, made the sign of the cross, slayed the dragon, saved the princess and converted the villagers to Christianity all before tea time.  ...Or so the story goes.

Traditionally, one would wear a red rose on their lapel, fly a St. George's cross flat and to sing the hymn "Jerusalem" at a chapels across the country.

However as St. George's flag has become more associated with right wing lunatics (the BNP) and football hooligans, there is a hesitation to even display the flag due to fear of being associated with the aforementioned groups.  There is also speculation that St. George isn't English (Roman, hello?) and in fact may have never even step foot on English soil.  Its for these reasons, that celebrations on this day tend to be restricted to having a pint in a pub that decked out in English flags.  But is that really any different that any other night at the pub?

In an effort to reclaim St. George's day, there have been various groups encouraging people to reclaim St. George by hosting parades in their town and proudly waving their flag.  There will be a free concert in Traflagar Square on Saturday. But if that's not really your thing, you can always just go down to the pub (as usual) and pretend to think about St. George as you chug enjoy that pint of lager.