This St George’s Day, let us show what the Christian martyr truly stood for

Today (23 April) will see the red-and-white cross of St George fluttering in the spring breeze up and down England.

But as well as a surge of national pride, does the flag cause you a twinge of discomfort? After all, this is a symbol that has been associated with racism, fascism, and even attacks on innocent people.

So who was St George, and what have he, and his flag, got to do with England? 

We don’t know much about St George, but we do know that he has been venerated for a long time in the Middle East. According to the scanty information we have, George was born in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey) to a Cappadocian father and a Palestinian mother. He became a soldier in the Roman army.

How St George’s flag came to be

When the Emperor Diocletian launched the last and greatest persecution of Christians in the early fourth century, George refused to renounce his Christian faith and was beheaded. His body was returned to his mother’s home town of Lydda (Lud, in modern-day Israel) where a church was erected in his memory. 

Centuries later, hagiographers came up with a fictional story about him killing a dragon (you won’t be surprised to learn that there were no dragons in the late Roman Empire) but despite, or because of, the embroidering of his story, he was honoured as a military saint. 

So how did St George’s flag come to represent England? In fact, that flag was around long before it was associated with the saint. It was during the Crusades that the connection with St George was made.

The red cross on a white background was originally known as the Banner of Victory, and in early Christian art you can see it in images of the risen Christ. Crusader knights adopted the Banner of Victory as their pennant. Then, at the Battle of Antioch in 1098, crusaders believed they had seen St George helping the Christians to victory. Thus, George became associated with the Banner of Victory, and his status as a military saint was cemented. 

It is too late to reclaim the swastika, a symbol of wellbeing that was used harmlessly for millennia, but it is not too late for St George’s Cross. 

George is the patron saint of many places and things, including the country of Georgia (obviously), Palestine, and the boy scouts, but his association with England stems from the Hundred Years War. 

Edward II of England, when staking his claim for the throne of France, chose St George as his particular saint. He credited St George with aiding him at the spectacularly successful Battle of Crécy in 1346, and made George the patron saint of the newly-founded Order of the Garter.

Before this, England’s most venerated saints were Edward the Confessor and Edmund the Martyr. Soon, George eclipsed both these royal saints, and the Banner of Victory/St George’s Cross became the flag of England. 

Reclaiming the cross of St George

But it is also, as we are only too aware, the flag of the far right in England. Despite his Middle Eastern origins, St George’s flag is sometimes used as a symbol of white supremacy, anti-immigrant feeling and Islamophobia. 

Operation Raise the Colours has raised or painted unauthorised flags throughout the UK, mostly on lampposts and mini roundabouts, but also as graffiti on a mosque, a church and a war memorial. The group claims it is encouraging unity and patriotism, but some of its members have travelled to France to harass and intimidate migrants.

The movement is also supported by the fascist group Britain First and by the former leader of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson.

Globalisation and austerity have plunged some post-industrial UK communities into hopelessness and economic decline, and far right groups are very happy to offer up immigrants as a scapegoat, under the cover of patriotism.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with patriotism or English nationalism, or even with opposing mass immigration. However, as Christians we cannot condone calls for innocent people to be harmed because of their race or nationality, nor the removal of due legal process from foreign nationals. Whatever our personal views on the best way to manage immigration, we are called to care for the alien and the stranger, not harass and attack them.  

Can the Cross of St George be reclaimed? It is too late now for the swastika, a symbol of wellbeing that was used harmlessly for millennia, including in Christian art, before becoming forever associated with the Nazis and their crimes. But it is not too late for St George’s Cross. 

English Christians have a role to play in demonstrating that their national flag can celebrate a proud nation and a Christian martyr without any subtext of racism or violence. So ignore that twinge of discomfort, and demonstrate with your words and actions what the Cross of St George really means to you this St George’s Day.