Some English supporters at the recent international match were booing the Andorran national anthem. I doubt most of them know where exactly Andorra is, let alone what it is like and what it stands for. Ignorance and nationalism too often seem easy bedfellows.

Situated between France and Spain, Andorra is smaller than the Isle of Man both in area and total population so there’s little need to intimidate. It smacks of bullying and bad manners especially on English soil. Whatever happened to the English sense of fair play?

Many of the English supporters were waving the flag of St George, a flag that has seen itself thrust into the limelight recently. But how many people know the history of this symbol?

I love that our patron saint in England is St George. What nationality do you think he was? Not English of course. St George was born of Greek parents in what is now Turkey but, back then, was part of Syria. He was a Roman citizen who worked in what is now Israel and was persecuted for his, then, unorthodox beliefs as he was a Christian. If he tried to get into Britain today, the Government would probably not let him in. The Tories would have him sent to Rwanda. A country with a suspect human rights record, a virtual dictator and fixed elections. Isn’t that what Ukraine is fighting against?

St George is not only the patron saint of England but also Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ukraine, Malta, Ethiopia, the regions of Catalonia and Aragon, and the cities of Moscow and Beirut. He’s the patron saint of agricultural workers, farmers, field workers, soldiers, archers, armourers, equestrians, cavalry, saddle makers, chivalry, peacekeeping missions, sheep, shepherds, scouting, skin diseases, lepers, leprosy and syphilis. With saints, it’s a bit like the Sky package – you always get some stuff you don’t really want. 

So why is St George our patron saint? His ghost is said to have ridden with the English troops in the Crusades and helped them to victory. Richard the Lionheart is often pictured with a red cross on his tunic. He wore the red cross because he was basically French. That’s the cross the French wore in the Crusades. The English wore a white cross on a blue background which is more like the Scottish flag. 

Richard only spent about six months of his 10-year reign in England and failed to do the main job of a king – to produce an heir. The actual royal line of succession runs from the much-reviled King John. Richard scholars believe was gay, which is great. So, whenever I see an England flag on a flagpole in someone’s garden, I always think what a tolerant person must live there. To hoist a flag to a Turkish bloke as worn by a gay French chap. 

What’s in a name?

The St George flag was first used by England on English ships in the Mediterranean which had to pay Northern Italians in Genoa as it was originally their flag. It did make me laugh during the Euros final when we played against Italy, seeing all the flags of St George and imagining two little old men from Milan saying, “have they paid us for all these?”

I totally accept, albeit reluctantly, the vote on Brexit, but during the referendum I couldn’t quite understand the slogan ‘Take back control’.

We were invaded by the Romans (or Italians) around 2,000 years ago. We were invaded and ruled by Vikings from Scandinavia and Danes from Denmark. Then, in 1066, we were ruled by the French. We say Normans but they were living in France and speaking French. So they were more or less French – get over it. 

Later, we were ruled by the Welsh with the Tudors, the Scots with the Stuarts, and then we were invaded by the Dutch in what was rebranded the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. Holland’s William of Orange landed with more than 14,000 men and marched on London with no opposition. Then we were ruled by the Germans with the Georges, down to the current King whose real name is Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

During the First World War, England was being bombed by German planes called Gotha so the royal family changed their name (“Have the Germans got any planes called Windsor? No, right we’ll have that then.”). So I think the royal family are perfect to represent us. They are, and have always been, a great example of an immigrant family done well.   

My grandad came over from Ireland as a baby in the early 20th century. He fought in the First World War…for the British. My dad fought for Britain in the Second World War. But even in my youth there were signs on pubs saying ‘no blacks, no dogs, no Irish’. I think we’ve come a long way and I’m proud to be part of a generation that said no to racist jokes, sexist jokes and homophobic jokes. We’ve still got a way to go but I’m optimistic that the next generations will do even better.

The only Irish joke I’ve ever liked is about the Irishman who goes for a job on a building site and the foreman thinks he might be a bit thick so he asks “what’s the different between a girder and a joist?” The Irishman says “Goethe wrote Faust and Joyce wrote Ulysses”.

I feel lucky to be British. Not proud – I’ve done nothing to achieve this. Others have made an effort, travelled to be here, taken a test. I should say from what I’ve heard about the nationality test that most English people, including me, would fail it. I just got lucky to be born here. If I was born German, I’d be a rubbish poet. I can’t speak the language. Those German kids must be clever.

Great Britain?

The first rule about being British is, you don’t talk about it. Like Fight Club. It’s our main characteristic. This is one of the reasons I find the extreme right totally un-British. The danger, though, is that we allow those on the far right to define us and our symbols. 

I think that, as a community, we share some common beliefs of decency, fairness, good humour and civility. I’m talking about the public not parliament. Not solely British values, of course, which is no surprise as these are values chosen by us, generation after generation of immigrants from all over the world. We’re like the American Dream but with a volume control.

I love a cup of tea. During my early years I think my blood went from Type O to PG. I love that our national drink is from India. Like our national dish, curry. I love that we are tolerant without even thinking about it. All our national symbols are international. Britannia herself is a Roman invention based on the goddess Athena, the Roman goddess of playing tennis with no knickers on. Even the name ‘Britain’ is said (in legend) to derive from Brutus, a Turkish warrior. Before then it was Albion, named after Albina, a Syrian Princess.

The term Great Britain is often misunderstood. Other countries aren’t called ‘Brilliant Belgium’, ‘Fantastic Finland’, ‘Not as bad as you might think North Korea’, or ‘Happy-go-lucky Afghanistan’. The name ‘Great Britain’ is from the Romans who wanted to distinguish the main island from the smaller islands of Ireland, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man etc. Nothing to do with being great.

The name England, as most kids are taught at school, derives from the Germanic tribe, the Angles. And our language, Anglo-Saxon, is from two Germanic tribes, the Angles and the Saxons.

And what of flowers? We think of roses as quintessentially English but the vast majority of garden roses in this country were originally imported from China and the Far East. Only a handful of wild roses are native to England. Nowadays, Ecuador, Columbia, Kenya and the Netherlands produce the most roses. The garden with the most varieties is in Germany and the biggest rose tree is, as you might suspect, in the US. Surprisingly, it’s in Tombstone and owes its size to having been planted over the town sewer (although hopefully not its scent). 

Even our national animal, the lion, is from Africa (as opposed to all those native lions you constantly see in Britain). If you think about it, our national animal should be a pigeon or a seagull. That’s the most common creature we see.

We are all immigrants

The recent rise of the far right, if we are to believe that it’s happening, is troubling. It seems to be people spreading misinformation for their own ends. Andy Warhol said that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. I don’t mind that. If we could limit Nigel Farage to 15 minutes, it would help. To give him his due, he wants to make Britain a less desirable place in which to live and he’s certainly putting me off. 

The open secret about immigration is that it has been driving the economy which is why successive governments weigh the balance of pros and cons. So the economic argument against immigrants is complicated to say the least.

I don’t have a solution for people’s fears about immigration, but if you look back it is obvious that we’re all immigrants. Considering the UK was under ice during the last Ice Age, everyone had to come over from France at some point. Going further back, if you believe in evolution then all humans originally come from Africa. If you believe in the Bible, we all descended from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, between the Tigers and the Euphrates, so the border of Iraq and Iran. 

When I consider all this I would like us to reclaim the flag of St George and our national identity, in the name of tolerance. I believe that most people in this country are intelligent enough to understand tolerance to be our greatest national strength. To promote tolerance as a national characteristic would certainly be something to be proud of. I’d salute that.

By Henry Normal

Main image by Richard Davis