St George needs a make over
23
2008
Today is St Georges Day, when we can all be proud to be English and fly the St George’s Cross without feeling like a chav.
So here is an interesting PR conundrum how do you re-habilitate St George when he has been misappropriated by the Right in England?
A survey by English Heritage reveals that fewer than one in five people mark St George’s Day on 23 April, suggesting that the English feel less national pride than the Welsh, Irish and Scottish. Indeed, my colleague argues that St Patrick’s day is more celebrated by the English than St George.
My gut feeling is that the reason the English don’t celebrate St George’s day is that we are a bit more assured in own national identity. And being half Irish I do have a sense of the Irish, Welsh and Scottish underdog which perhaps feeds their partisan ardor.
The Scottish Parliament recently voted to make St Andrew’s Day a voluntary public holiday last year and same could soon happen in Wales for St David’s Day. Which is a good PR hook for St George and his supporters to bring him back into the mainstream and an integral element of Brand England.
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