As promised, a flag depicting Ye Olde Canne of Worms, or not a can, but the Sacred Receptacle of our National Beverage.
A British Day has been held since 1991 with, in 2009, a full Promenade Concert with the waving of the Union Flag and the singing of Land of Hope and Glory and God Save the King. Where were these celebrations held? In Hamburg, Germany. Why are these events not held in the United Kingdom?
[sigh] It’s complicated. It’s so, so complicated. I could cite this reason or that reason; I could ask: what does it mean to be British? Why do we seem to have this terrible lack of pride in our collective national identity? The Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish are all very “comfortable in their own skin”, as the French say (ha!) and to have a UK National Day is not something particularly desired by any of them. Unless it’s a national public holiday, of course! Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own national days, the Northern Irish one shared with the Republic of Ireland.
But the English are, shall we say, seemingly not encouraged to be proud of their identity. St George’s Day, the English national day, takes place on 23 April each year. But hang on a second—“takes place”? What exactly “takes place”? Perhaps a bit of Morris dancing (an ancient fertility rite) in more rural areas. Or we might be reminded that Shakespeare was [probably] born on 23 April with this or that festival. But I would suggest that by and large, it’s a day that slips past unnoticed in England.
St George wasn’t English. He was born in what is now Turkey. He wasn’t a knight. It is very likely he was an officer in the Roman Army (remember the Romans, who invaded England from 43 CE and made Colchester the capital? Yeah … them. What did they ever do for us? [An in-joke for Monty Python fans]. The St George Cross was not used to represent England until the reign of Henry VIII. England shares St George with Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Ethiopia and Catalonia among others as their patron saint and many of these places have their own celebrations and ceremonies in his honour.
Suggestions and proposals put forward in the UK Parliament for a British National Day are met with derision, ridicule or plain lack of interest. It’s a sorry state of affairs …