St. Georges Day

Nothing like a bit of controversy on a Monday morning... But today over here (and in several different countries around the world) today is St. Georges Day. First off, I will be ignorant and state what I assumed today was about..

But St Georges Day is about being English, celebrating England, flying the flag and generally being proud of our heritage. I often ranted and raved at the schools on St Georges Day as they never taught the kids about it...

However.

On reading and educating myself this morning, the ONLY thing that makes St Georges Day anything relating to being English, is the St Georges Cross, that was adopted as our flag. NOTHING about St George is about celebrating being English...

First off, he wasn't English. Nor British. Not even from (what is now) the United Kingdom. In fact, he's not even European. Syria Palaestina. A Roman soldier no less, and a saint in three churches. And after reading and re-reading the historical background of his history, it would appear he never even came to England... The only reason we use the St George Cross for our flag is

The St. George's flag, a red cross on a white field, was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet during the Crusades and the English Monarch paid an annual tribute to the Doge of Genoa for this privilege.

In short, we used it as a "We've paid the toll to come in here, please don't sink us" marker!

So why is he the patron saint of England, exactly?

I suspect it's because he is a venerated saint in the Anglican church, and that the royal family started using him as their patron saint in the 14th Century...

Which brings me to the next question... Do all the people that are Anti-Religion and Anti-Monachy know this? Do some of these fricking nutters like the English Defense League know this? These people are almost rabid racists, marching against whichever race they don't like each week... PLEASE let me be the one to tell the EDL that their flag belongs to someone from the Middle East that never set foot in our Country.

I am sure this entry will probably piss people off. I am sure people will pick holes in it. That's fine, go nuts. I'm not being anti English - I'm not being anti-ANYTHING in fact. If you want to make a point, go for it.