« Sinister Riots In Lurgan | Assembly's Final Blow To Public Purse » |
Happy St George's Day
There has been a small but noticeable upsurge in English (as distinct from British) patriotism in England in recent years
Today is Saint George's Day and will see celebrations across England, although probably on a smaller scale than Saint Patrick's Day (even Saint Patrick's Day in England possibly?).
The Royal Society of St George has been working in recent years to revive the day, which has gone largely uncelebrated for years as the English wrestle with some of the same demons as Ulster's unionists in the form of misconceptions about their patriotism. While it's hard to be proudly Northern Irish or even British in Northern Ireland without being construed or portrayed as sectarian, many English folk have played down their English identity for fear of being offensive and/or thought of as racist.
Now, groups are working to promote the celebration of England's patron saint in the same way as Ireland's is celebrated. A campaign has begun promoting the day to the business community as potentially very financially rewarding, particularly to pubs. Landlords had noticed that English people would always go out drinking on Saint Patrick's day, and yet many didn't even know when Saint George's Day was, but that seems to be slowly changing with many towns now organising Saint George's Day events.
Follow up:
I do have mixed feelings about the apparent growth in English nationalism or patriotism. I hope groups like this are successful in winning back their flags and symbols from the associations some people make between them and racists and in having Saint George's Day declared a bank or public holiday in England. Due to that I was pleased to see Mick Fealty note that "One Islamic contributor to PM yesterday argued that such a cosmopolitan figure would be a perfect cypher for a more inclusive Britishness" (I think the contributor in question meant to say Englishness). I also wish all success to those groups wishing to highlight the distinction between English and British (a distinction too often ignored), such as the campaign for an English anthem.
While I think many of us can sympathise with anyone whose nationality and culture has been misappropriated and misunderstood, many of these groups seem to almost portray their campaigns as being England against Britain or sometimes based on begrudging the Scots/Welsh/(Northern) Irish what they have. As a non-English Brit I'm very pleased to see the distinction being highlighted and even to see Englishness being celebrated in England (imagine!), but it's still important to realise that being proud of being English (or Scottish, or Welsh, or Northern Irish) doesn't preclude also being proud of being British. I think what it comes down to is that we have much more in common than we have separating us.