23 April marks St George’s Day, which often passes unnoticed. But who was St George and why is he England's patron saint? This is the story …
Who was St George?
St George might be the patron saint of England, but St George himself was not English. Tradition places his origins in Cappadocia in what became the Byzantine Empire, and which today is in modern-day Turkey. He was not Turkish, because the Turks had not settled that region then. His first language was likely Greek and he served as a Roman soldier and later became a Christian.
Martyred for his ‘atheism’
At the time George lived, the Romans regarded Christians as atheists, which at that time referred to people who did not believe in the Roman gods. To the Romans, Christians were atheists who did not believe in any of the gods, but stubbornly only believed in one God. In 303 AD, Emperor Diocletian issued an edict demanding that Christians sacrifice to pagan gods or face punishment. George openly professed his faith, gave his possessions to the poor, and tore up the edict in front of the emperor. George was executed on 23 April, 303 AD, for defiance in the face of persecution and for his monotheism. It might sound odd today but he was technically martyred for his ‘atheism’, because he refused to believe in the Roman gods, which to him were just fairy tales.
George and the Dragon
The English word “dragon” came into English from the Old French dragon, which in turn came from the Latin draco, which in turn came from the Greek δράκων (drákōn), originally denoting any large creature, with a literal sense of something with a deadly glance, from the verb ‘dérkomai’ meaning to see clearly. The images of dragons evolved in the imaginations of mediaeval illustrators who had not travelled and had no zoos, and they became fire breathing creatures, but originally were often just crocodiles. It might be that the story has its roots in George saving a village by killing a crocodile.
The famous story of St George killing the dragon is thought by most to be legendary, but it carries symbolic weight. The dragon has often been interpreted allegorically as a representation of evil, chaos, or oppression. In Christian imagination, this aligns with the biblical depiction of Satan as the great dragon (Revelation 12:9). George’s courage, then, is not merely physical but spiritual: a steadfast resistance to evil and a defence of the vulnerable. The call to “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21) is not limited to dramatic acts of heroism. It extends to the daily work of cultivating communities marked by kindness, justice, and humility.
Christian saint
As such George is highly respected across the Middle East and in Ethiopia. The idea of St George resonated with early Christian beliefs. St Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile … for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). From its earliest days, Christianity has dismantled the dividing walls of hostility (Ephesians 2:14), forming a new community not based on nationality, but on allegiance to Christ. As such he was revered as a saint. Some people associate the red cross of St George with images of crusaders, but that is quite unfair, since St George actually lived some centuries before the birth of Muhammad and the start of Islam. Pilgrimage sites dedicated to St George are visited by many nationalities, and by both Christians and Muslims. Some Muslims revere Saint George and call him Al-Khidr.
George as Patron Saint
St George was not adopted as patron saint of England until mediaeval times. In this position his adoption actually ousted two previous patron saints who were English. Before St George, St Edmund the Martyr, king of the East Angles from 855 until his death in 869, and St Edward the Confessor (1003–1066), were considered as national saints. King Edward III preferred the story of St George, the Middle East saint over the former two English ones. In that sense, the patron saint of England is, by modern definitions, an Orthodox Christian from the Middle East who has been embraced and adopted as part of English culture.
The Flag
The idea of the red cross was the cross of Jesus dipped in blood. The cross represents the execution of Jesus in the holy land and his blood shed for all people. A similar idea in reverse with a white cross on a red background forms the basis of the Danish and Swiss flags.
St George’s flag, while sometimes seen flying alone, is more often seen as an integral part of the flag of the United Kingdom, often called the Union Flag or the Union Jack. The Union Flag includes three crosses on it: the red cross of St George for England, the saltire of St Andrew for Scotland and the cross of St Patrick for Ireland.
If you see the Union Flag as England, Scotland, and Ireland, it represents the different nations of the UK. If you see the flag as heraldic symbols of saints, it represents St George and St Andrew who were both from the Middle East but have been adopted by the English and the Scots, and St Patrick who was British but was adopted by the Irish.
If you see the Union Flag as three Christian crosses it represents the cross of St Andrew who was Jewish and an apostle of Jesus, who today we might call a Messianic Jew; the cross of St George who was a Gentile and a convert to Christianity in the Middle East, who today we might call Eastern Orthodox; and the cross of St Patrick who was British and went to Ireland, representing what we might call the Celtic Church. Whichever way you look at it, this flag is itself a symbol of a multi-ethnic land and Christian diversity.
Summary
England adopted St George, a Middle Eastern Byzantine Christian, who had never been to England, as its saint, over homegrown English alternatives. Both the flag of St George and the Union Flag thus speak as powerful symbols of tolerance, multi-ethnic diversity, and Christian faith. St George’s flag demonstrates how England is a nation that welcomes people from other cultures by its Christian values.
Collect
The Anglican collect prayer for St George’s Day is, “God of hosts, who so kindled the flame of love in the heart of your servant George that he bore witness to the risen Lord by his life and by his death: give us the same faith and power of love that we who rejoice in his triumphs may come to share with him the fullness of the resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.”
