It’s St George’s Day – that most English of celebrations, honouring a Turkish-born Roman soldier of Greek and Palestinian parents, who never set foot in England, and whose dragon-slaying credentials remain unverified.
Yes, our patron saint is an immigrant, canonised for deeds that would make a fairly decent Marvel plotline, not for anything he actually did on English soil (since he never came here), whose best-known achievement is sadly undocumented in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. What was the Venerable Bede thinking? But historical accuracy has never stood in the way of a good national myth – especially one involving armour, fire-breathing beasts and a touch of outsourced patriotism.
The trouble is, over the years, the St George’s Cross has been increasingly claimed by those who shout the loudest – often from outside a pub that definitely serves breakfast with a pint (you know which chain we mean). What should be a shared symbol of heritage – much like St Patrick is for Ireland – has become for many, uncomfortably entangled with a louder and more exclusionary brand of nationalism. These days, most people only feel comfortable flying the English flag during major international football tournaments – and usually only if England are actually in with a chance.
But this year, there have been memes. Lots of them. Funny, ironic and at times gloriously daft, they’ve flooded Twitter and Bluesky, gently mocking the contradictions of English nationalism and reminding us that there’s more than one way to celebrate Englishness. We’ve rounded up a selection of them – from tongue-in-cheek tributes to our travelling saint, to sharp-witted takes on flag-waving bravado. Because sometimes the best way to reclaim a symbol is with humour, perspective… and the odd meme. So here are some of the best from today:
Clearly a Derby fan…
Of course, today is also Shakespeare’s birthday
And finally…
And just to confuse everyone, the Church of England has announced that today is not, in fact, St George’s Day. The Church has put back this year’s celebration of England’s patron saint to Monday 28 April. According to church rules any saint’s day falling in Easter week moves to the week after the Easter fortnight, usually to the first Monday. So we get to celebrate it all over again next week!
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