St George | This is England - The Flag Of St George | 1
Legacy
Original Legacy Productions
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
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Summary
Peter and Afua explore the surprising story behind England’s most famous symbol — the flag of St George.
How did a man born in what’s now Turkey, with Palestinian and Greek roots, become the patron saint of England? And what does his red cross really stand for today? From ancient martyrdom and dragon-slaying myths to the Crusades, royal propaganda, and modern debates about identity, this episode traces how St George’s image has been reinvented through history.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to a new episode of Legacy. I've got a question for you, Afra. |
| 0:05.5 | When is St. George's Day? Do you know when St. George's Day is? |
| 0:08.8 | Right, I do, but only because of the research I was doing for this episode, Peter. |
| 0:14.0 | In the absence of that, if you'd have asked me a month ago, I would not have been able to tell you. |
| 0:18.7 | I don't even know if I would have been able to tell you the month. |
| 0:21.7 | And by the way, you might be out there judging me right now, but I am not alone. |
| 0:26.7 | A survey from 2021 found that only 40% of people in England know when St. George's Day is. |
| 0:32.5 | I don't believe that. |
| 0:33.4 | And another survey in 2023 found that a quarter of English people don't even know that St. George is their patron saint. |
| 0:42.0 | And if they don't know who he is, then they're not going to know the date of the holiday, are they? |
| 0:45.9 | I don't believe that 40% of people know when St. George's Day is. |
| 0:49.5 | Or Trafalgar Day or any of the dates, or the king or the queen's birthday. Next you're going to tell me |
| 0:55.8 | about Empire Day and... No clue. So I know the date of St. George's Day for not because I'm a big |
| 1:02.7 | fan of patron Saints Day, but because it's used to date a very important expedition in the Balkans |
| 1:10.5 | in the 1080s and it's one of the few fixed dates. |
| 1:13.9 | So I had to learn about that a long time ago. So I will never forget the 23rd of April is the day |
| 1:18.3 | where everybody goes nuts. A survey in 2025 found that the number of people who know that St. George's Day |
| 1:25.5 | is the day of an important event in the Balkans is |
| 1:28.3 | one, and that one person is Peter Frankapet. I know for a fact that at least two other people read that thing that I wrote. So there are three of us. But what is interesting, I've heard, you're quite right. If you were to say, not just in France, what's Bastille Day, or which is the French national day. People in England know when that is. |
| 1:44.8 | Yeah. People know when... 12th of July. |
| 1:46.7 | It's a bit of a clue, Independence Day in the United States. I was going to blurt out Fourth of July. But everyone knows that. St. Patrick's Day, everybody knows. And then Ghana Independence Day. Just remind me out for which state is Ghana Independence Day. Fifth of March. That one I do know. And it's not just because I'm Ghanaian heritage. A lot of people, |
| 2:03.7 | like you take St. Fifth of March. That one I do know. And it's not just because I'm |
... |
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