So why is the St George’s Cross so controversial and what does the law say now? Why St George?Ĭhosen as England’s patron saint in 1350 by King Edward III, St George never actually set foot on British shores. In fact, until fairly recently, it was illegal to fly a national flag without permission from a local council. Since the 1970s it has been closely associated with the far-right and only really appears en masse in public at times of major sporting occasions. While the saint’s day flags of other UK nations are a source of great national pride, for the English the red and white cross remains hugely divisive. Unlike St Andrew’s Day in Scotland and St Patrick’s Day in Ireland, St George’s Day is not a bank holiday in England.īelieved to be the day the Turkish-born knight martyred himself, in 1415 the 23 April became a national feast day in England, “but after the union with Scotland in the 18th century it ceased to become a national holiday”, says the Nottingham Post. The English have always had a complicated relationship with their patron saint.
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