Friday 23 April 2010

St George's Day and the Union Flag


Today is St George's Day, the patron saint of England, sadly forgotten over the years.  By coincidence it's also Shakespeare's birthday, who wrote "Cry God for England, Harry and St George!", words said by Henry V to rally his troops.  It was after Henry's victory at the Battle of Agincourt that St George became recognised as the patron saint of England.

The Red Cross of St George is the official flag of England.  Together with the flags of St Andrew and St Patrick, it  makes up the Union Flag or the Union Jack, with each superimposed on the other.

This is a card I bought locally, as a foretaste of summer, from a range of original paintings on driftwood. 
This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.
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16 comments:

  1. Very nice postcard :) And I added you to following postcrossing blogs.

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  2. Ooh, I 'did' St George too, though not as eloquently as you. I love the postcard - what fun!

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  3. thank you for this reminder of st.george's day! i had forgotten all about that!
    whilst we know that shakespeare DIED on this day his actual birthday is a bit foggy. he was baptised on 26 april so it's possible that he was born on 23 april but not confirmed...

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  4. Happy St Georges Day. A most unusual card. I love finding driftwood but have never put it to such artistic use.

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  5. Wow--I didn't know about St. George's Day! I'll have to remember that for next year around this time! Thank you so much, and Happy PFF!

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  6. I like the card. I didn't know about St. George and his day.

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  7. It is amazing how much we learn from PFF... thanks for sharing.

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  8. Wonderful and I learned something new. Happy PFF!

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  9. Thanks for the reminder about St. george's day and happy PFF.

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  10. Are the patron saints...patronizing? :)

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  11. very interesting about the flags, thank you for the information

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  12. Howdy
    Happy St. George's Day
    and a very happy PFF to you too !
    Fantastic post today.
    Thank you for sharing with us .
    Have a fabulous weekend.
    Happy Trails

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  13. Nig way to display the flag, and we are in summer too now, make me want to go to beach.

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  14. I love the thought that this is from a driftwood painting! And I thank you for the history lesson - much I did not know.

    Happy PFF!

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  15. Thanks for the history lesson. I love the entire Henry V era.

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Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

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