St Georgeists Of England

I feel English - very English - though not in the same way some people do, namely the sort who think that they alone own the national identity and never cease bleating and squealing because some of us beg to differ. I'll have more on this for CiF tomorrow. Meanwhile, an anecdote. I was eating a salt beef sandwich in a cafe this morning when a delivery man came in: sixty-odd, white, vocally and, I thought, just a little theatrically cockney. He told the cafe owner a story. He'd just come from west London, he said, and had spotted Tony Blair on the street. "I shouted, "Where are all the flags?" and he just shrugged!" The man's message to his audience - me and the cafe owner - was clear: we English don't show pride in our country - or somehow aren't allowed to any more. It's a common complaint these days, in certain newspapers at least. But, you know, I don't recall any dearth of St George flags around the place during last year's World Cup. I suppose if we English wanted to fly them on St George's Day too, we would. So what's really stopping us? Discuss.

Comments

[Matt M]

Complaining - while doing nothing productive - is far more fun, and far more in keeping with the English character.

[Political umpire]

I think it is a bit un-English to draw attention to oneselves. And in the old days, no-one felt the need to.

Well done on the tele the other night, though why they keep asking that awful Odone back I don't know ...

[Tom Freeman]

I agree with Matt: we like idly moaning.

And imagine if Blair had heeded the man Dave saw: a government-led nationwide flag display. It probably wouldn't be ready until mid-May, and even if it did work out, we'd all be bleating about the nanny state forcing invented traditions on us.

It's this comfy-armchair-critic type of nationalism that's prevented us from having mass revolutions like those odd ideological types on the continent.

[Big Chip Dale]

I'm with Political Umpire on this one. Perhaps it's good old fashioned reserve, which has been sorely lacking these last few years as too many people seem to think they're American and need to whoop about everything.

[Jane Henry]

I think I've always felt English, mainly because it was a standing joke at my school that there were so few true English people in the class, the majority of whom were Irish descent. Having said that, how do you define Englishness anyway - we're all hybrids - I can name Scots/Irish/Celts in my antecedents as well as an exotic Polish dancer... Most of us probably can. The real English are all Welsh anyway. I've always thought the BNP have been on a sticky wicket with that one - I wonder what we'd find if we DNA'd them, hmm...

I did used to sport a red rose on St George's Day when I was school, mainly as a response to the Wave of Green that overwhelmed the school tsunami like on St Patrick's Day. But I usually felt a tit for wearing it. Which I suppose means I must truly be English...

love Janex

PS Ooh yes, I HATE all that over emotional guff we've got into in recent years... NOT at all English, that.

[kris]

My beef is that as an immigrant, I can only be British and not English.

[rivergirle]

just for a moment there, chris, i though you were talking about imported beef!

[Zinnia Cyclamen]

I too feel very English. But I don't feel particularly proud of being English. I think I'd need the pride, as well as the identity, to want to fly a flag.

[molasses]

I feel English and I am proud to be English. Still wouldn't fly the flag though.

[Margi (juliansdaughter)]

Government led anything should be avoided, they'd just make a hash of it and use it as a vehicle for whatever PC nonsense is in fashion. It would be nice though if more people hung out a St George's Cross, had a "do" somewhere, wore bluebells (red roses having been hijacked too). I'm Scottish and our parliament is trying to "officialise" St Andrew's Day and doing it no favours; most of us will just go on celebrating 26 January and thinking Rabbie Burns is our patron saint :-)