• 24Mar

    Boris ignores political correctness to fly England’s flag and celebrate St George

    Miscellaneous

    Great story Colin Fernandez of the Daily Mail.
    Lets get the whole of the UK from Land’s End to John O’Groats to be more patriotic.  Should we all take a leaf out of Old Boris’s book and fly the flag of our Countries, Counties and Towns? (Maybe I shouldn’t call him Old Boris!!)

    The capital’s mayor said he would proudly fly the red and white flag of England’s patron saint from his City Hall office on April 23.

    The Mayor’s endorsement of St George’s Day appears to mark an official determination to make English patriotism more acceptable.

    In recent years, many local authorities have banned taxi drivers, builders and firemen from displaying the Cross of St George – often citing spurious health and safety reasons.

    Mr Johnson said: ‘St George’s Day has been ignored in London for far too long, but I’m truly pleased to announce some fantastic events to mark this occasion.

    ‘We have much to be proud of in this great country. England has given so much to the world, politically, socially and artistically.’

    A music festival on Sunday April 25 in Trafalgar Square will feature artists ‘finding innovative ways to express music that is inspired by English folk tradition’.

    And as April 23 is also Shakespeare’s birthday, there will be an event commemorating the Bard’s work at the Globe Theatre in London.

    Many councils have shied away from endorsing St George and the English flag over a perception that they were the preserve of far-Right political parties and racists.

    St George’s adoption by Crusaders against Islam in the Holy Land has been a further obstacle.

    But in recent years, English patriotism has become more acceptable, with the flag more likely to be associated with the national football team.

    The news was welcomed by the Left-wing musician Billy Bragg yesterday.

    He said: ‘I think it’s great that the Mayor is grasping the nettle. Good luck to him. If you don’t use the flag in a positive way then you leave it to be used by the far-Right and it will have negative connotations.’

    Until the 18th century, St George’s Day was a celebration on a par with Christmas. But it fell out of favour.

    Despite being the patron saint of England, St George is thought to have been a Roman soldier born in Turkey.

    The legend of George slaying the dragon is believed to have been brought back from the Middle East by Crusaders, growing in popularity until he was canonised in the 1400s.

    Last year, Gordon Brown flew the flag of St George over Downing Street for the first time in recent years.

    But the day has not received much backing from government.

    Posted by Lesley @ 2:36 pm

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