Comments on: Should St George be ousted if England becomes independent?

By: sperestillan

sperestillan — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 09:15:36 +0000

Nice flag, I like that idea. And we can still incorporate the red cross on a silver background as that’s just the symbol of a martyr, so ‘theoretically’ it could keep everybody happy.
A priest recently told me the Orthodox church took over the SPCK which I think is to be welcomed.

By: Ellee

Ellee — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 15:51:04 +0000

Sperstillan, That’s a great flag. Here is a pic of a proposed St Edmund flag published by Radio Suffolk, which is also a combination of the St George and a crown with arrows:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2006/10/26/st_edmunds_flag_feature.shtml

My mother is Orthodox too, btw, as she comes from Greece.

By: sperestillan

sperestillan — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 15:43:44 +0000

St. Edmund's symbol is a gold crown with arrows, so presumably the flag of England would be something along these lines: St Edmund Flag?

By: Northwing

Northwing — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 20:44:08 +0000

Hi Ellee, I do like the idea of St Edmund. He certainly has a place in ancient English tradition, but then St George has been at home here for almost a thousand years. When you look at the countries of Europe, many of them fly a similar cross to our St George, and so there’s also a powerful argument that the current English flag is an international symbol that connects us, in history and culture with our cousins abroad. In one sense it doesn’t matter about the myth, especially since the English have almost made it an art form to live with apparent contradictions.

The thing is St George has also become a much larger, explicit, part of the English consciousness in recent years. Looking back at the World Cup, you can’t fail to be impressed (with all that hitherto far-right baggage) at how inclusive a symbol the English flag became. Representative of nation of people, unashamedly yes, but a symbol of racial division – definitely not. It was very encouraging don’t you think?

If England ever did go it alone on the world stage, and I don’t wish it, I could see St George as the national patron saint, and St Edmund as the patron saint of the people of England – a civic saint if you like.

That’s assuming saints aren’t all one day reconciled to a secularist shredder of course.

By: Ellee

Ellee — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:31:33 +0000

I emailed David Ruffley and asked him about the next step in this campaign, he replied:

” As to the next step I will try for an adjournment debate – it is a bit of a lottery as to whether one gets one. In practice however there is quite a lot of resistance from a huge number of MPs who support St George. It is just a question of keep plugging away for St Edmund! Failing that Suffolk County Council said they would adopt St Edmund as a county patron saint though I have got to have meetings with Suffolk County Council on that.”

By: james higham

james higham — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:03:29 +0000

More than interesting, Ellee. This one’s in this evenng.

By: Heather Yaxley

Heather Yaxley — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:10:23 +0000

Ah – brand identity change! Nice idea to switch to St Edmund as it would give a boost to tourism in East Anglia too. If we change the flag, we could then aim to wrench it from the pants of footie hooligans (not literally of course). However as with all identity changes it is important to remember that symbolism isn’t the only factor – we would need to be clearer about what being English means, our values, and how we reflect them beyond flags, patron saints and national anthems.

Personally, I’d rather we had the debate first about being British including the Scots and Welsh.

By: Guthrum

Guthrum — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:54:59 +0000

As much as I like the idea of St Edmund, rewriting Shakespeare when storming castles in France is going to be a non starter.

By: Ellee

Ellee — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 08:34:23 +0000

Jim, I believe it is a white background with a red cross and a symbol in the centre, but I can’t remember what of.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 06:47:51 +0000

I wonder what St Edmund’s flag looks like? Would we have to redesign the Union Jack?