‘Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’

APRIL 23 is Saint George’s day, the patron saint of England, and the embodiment of the traditional, heraldic values of the knights’ code.

Since the days of King Edward III, of the Plantagenet house, St George has been the figurehead of a nation that has held the values of chivalry close to its heart.

St George is a warrior saint who few people realise was Syrian by birth. Revered by many cultures and countries around the world, his existence stands for all that is honourable.

Saint George was born around AD 275, in Lydda, Syria. He was a soldier in the Roman army and was later venerated as a Christian martyr.

His father was Gerontius, a Greek Christian from Cappadocia, and an official in the Roman army. His mother, Polychronia, was a Christian from Lydda. Saint George became an officer in the Roman army, in the Guard of the Emperor Diocletian, who ordered his death for refusing to repudiate his Christian faith.

The famous speech for Shakespeare’s Henry V, which includes, “Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George,” has for many Brits become a benchmark of honour, patriotism, and traditional chivalrous values.