TODAY is St George’s Day, the day marking the patron saint of England.

At the town hall, the St George’s Cross has been flying all week in a nod to the occasion.

Who was St George?

St George is probably most renowned for slaying a dragon, but according to Stephen Garnett, editor of This England magazine, this famous act is no more than a fable.

History, however, tells us more about his legacy.

St George was a respected Roman soldier and was executed for refusing renounce his Christianity and bow down to the Roman Emporer Diocletian, said Stephen.

It was King Richard who declared St George the patron saint of England and Henry III who in 1222 announced the Feast of St George to be held each year on the anniversary of his death – April 23.

St George is also the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece, and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to Saint Mark). (Source: BBC) He is also patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers, and he helps those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis.

Recently he has been adopted as patron saint of Scouts.

The image of St George slaying the dragon is emblazoned on the George Cross medal.

Still proud?

To celebrate St George’s Day this year, This England commissioned a survey by yougov, which revealed seven out of 10 young people didn’t know when the day was.

Exactly half of the 1,993 respondents said they did not know why he was our patron saint, so if that figure is replicated across the country there could be 25.5m people unaware of his heritage.

Across all age groups one in eight English people said they thought flying the flag was embarrassing or distasteful.

Of those, 79 per cent said that was down to its association with extremists.

This is a great contrast to the pride displayed by other countries such as Ireland who annually and noisily rejoice on St Patrick’s Day, said Stephen Garnett, editor of This England.

“We’re incredibly disappointed to find that St George is losing his perceived relevance to English culture,” said Stephen.

“St George stands for everything that makes this country great – freedom of expression, helping those less fortunate, tolerance of other people’s beliefs, kindness and standing up for what you believe to be right – and it’s a travesty that this is being forgotten.

“We want people to be proud, fly the flag, wear a red rose, display the cross or organise their own St George’s day party, anything! Just do something to make sure that we don’t let this important day go by without speaking up for England!”

What do you think of St George’s Day?

Should we fly the Union Jack instead of the St George’s Cross, or should we make more of an effort to celebrate England’s history?

Let us know what you think using the comments form below.