St.Georges Day – The Power of Symbolism
“Cry God for Harry, England and St George!”
William Shakespeare
On this day we celebrate the life of our patron, Saint of England and our pride in English heritage. Saint George’s national flag will be standing tall above Downing Street today as we are sitting down for our afternoon tea and complaining about it being too warm outside. Our pride in England has continually increased over the years and more than 73 per cent of us think that Saint George’s day should be made into a national holiday. Over the weekend events have been held all through England to celebrate what it is to be English and David Cameron has spoken out urging us to celebrate just as other nations in the United Kingdom do.
The legend of Saint George depicts a village tormented by an evil dragon that would gobble up sheep and children. To cut a long story short, Saint George rescued the Kings daughter from impending doom whilst bearing the sign of the cross and they all lived happily ever after – a perfectly English fairytale!
The red cross on a white background originated as an emblem in the middle ages for crusaders and then became the national flag of England during the 16th century. It is our most widely recognized symbol and as it is held high throughout England today in all of its simplicity, it reminds us of our history without saying a single word.
Branding doesn’t need to be complicated; anything as simple as a red cross can speak volumes.
