Birthday Girl
UK
Midlands council ignites outrage with removal of St George’s flags
Derby City Council said it was time to bring the campaign of flag flying “to an end”
By Christian Abbott
A Midlands council has ignited outrage over their decision to remove St George’s flags from the streets.
From September 29, Derby City Council said it will start to remove the national flags from bridges, walls and lamp-posts.
The Labour-led council said it was time to bring the campaign of flag flying “to an end”
Councillor Sarah Chambers said it was a “statutory responsibility” to keep public spaces safe and well maintained.
In a statement, she said it was time to bring the “campaign of flag flying to an end” but she “fully” supported those who want fly flags on their own property.
She explained: “We’ve applied flexibility in our discretion in recent weeks, but going forward anyone wishing to display posters, banners, flags or similar on public land or street furniture must obtain the standard permissions.
“As part of our statutory responsibility to keep public spaces safe and well-maintained, we will be required to remove items that have not obtained the standard permissions.”
The announcement has been met with significant backlash, including by Councillor Tim Prosser, Reform Derby group leader on the city council.
He said flying the flag was not a “show of aggression or racial hate but simply as a token of national pride and frustration about our Government”.
St. George’s Day in the United Kingdom
St George’s Day in England remembers St George, England’s patron saint. The anniversary of his death, which is on April 23, is seen as England’s national day. According to legend, he was a soldier in the Roman army who killed a dragon and saved a princess.
Celebrate St George’s Day
St George’s Day used to be a national holiday in England. It is now an observance that is celebrated with parades, dancing and other activities. Flags with the image of St George’s cross are flown on some buildings, especially pubs, and a few people wear a red rose on their lapel. Church services on the Sunday closest to April 23 often include the hymn ‘Jerusalem’, written by the poet William Blake. The words describe a supposed visit to Glastonbury, England, by Jesus Christ during his youth.
Public Life
April 23 is not a public holiday. Schools, stores, post offices, businesses and other organizations are open as usual. Public transport services run to their usual timetables.
About St George’s Day
St George was born sometime around the year 280 in what is now Turkey. He was a soldier and rose up through the ranks of the Roman army, eventually becoming a personal guard to the Emperor Diocletian. He was executed for being a Christian on April 23, 303, and is buried in the town of Lod in Israel.
St George is most widely known for slaying a dragon. According to legend, the only well in the town of Silene was guarded by a dragon. In order to get water, the inhabitants of the town had to offer a human sacrifice every day to the dragon. The person to be sacrificed was chosen by lots. On the day that St George was visiting, a princess had been selected to be sacrificed. However, he killed the dragon, saved the princess and gave the people of Silene access to water. In gratitude, they converted to Christianity. It is thought that the dragon represents a certain type of pagan belief that included the sacrifice of human beings.
St George’s Day was once celebrated as widely as Christmas. But the celebrations waned by the end of the 18th century after England had united with Scotland on May 1, 1707. In recent times, there has been a push, involving campaigns and petitions, to make the day a public holiday in England.
St George is the patron saint of a number of other places, such as Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Portugal and Russia. He is also remembered in some regional holidays, such as in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada and among the Gorani people who live in a mountainous area in the Balkans and were converted to Islam many centuries ago, but still observe St George’s Day. Around the world, a number of days are devoted to St George, including April 23 and dates in November and December of the Gregorian calendar.
Symbols
The most widely recognized symbol of St George’s Day is St George’s cross. This is a red cross on a white background, which is often displayed as a flag. It is used as England’s national flag, forming part of the Union Flag, the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Saint George’s cross was originally the flag of the maritime Republic of Genoa. Around 1190, the King of England started paying the Doge of Genoa to protect ships originally from the city of London and the rest of England that sailed in the Mediterranean.
During the crusades in the 1100s and 1200s, English knights used St George’s cross as part of their uniform. It has been the official flag of England for centuries, but the Union Flag, a combination of St George’s cross, St Andrew’s cross and St Patrick’s cross, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. Now Saint George’s cross is used as a national symbol by fans of the English national football, rugby and cricket teams. At international matches, flags and scarves bearing this cross are worn and people paint it on their faces. It is also has a prominent place on the arms of the City of London and the flags of the city of Barcelona, Spain, and the country of Georgia.
Source: Time And Date
Bert Jansch “Wagoner’s Lad”
Wagoner’s Lad (also known as My Horses Ain’t Hungry) is a popular song, which first appeared without credit and without sheet music in a 1734 book, The Vocal Miscellany.
Bob Dylan stated that the melodic structure of his song Farewell, Angelina was taken from an early 1850s Scottish sailors’ song by George Scroggie called Farewell to Tarwathie: this latter song, in turn, was inspired by the old traditional tune of Wagoner’s Lad. [Wikipedia]