The English flag is the St. George’s Cross, a thin red cross on a white field. A red cross acted as a symbol for many Crusaders in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries AD. It became associated with Saint George, and England claimed him as their patron saint, along with other countries such as Georgia, Russia and the Republic of Genoa, using his cross as a banner. This flag remained in national use until 1707, when the Union Flag (which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606) was adopted for all purposes to unite the whole of Great Britain under a common flag.
The most important national symbol is the Lions of Anjou. The three Hons were first used by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) in the late twelfth century. Many historians feel that the Three Lions are the true symbol of England. They are shown in their heraldic form left and as they appear on the crest of the English National football team right.
Alternative names sometimes used for England have included the slang “Blighty”, from the Hindustani “bila yati” meaning “foreign”; and “Albion,” an ancient name popularised by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century, supposedly in reference to the white (Latin alba) cliffs of Dover. (In its origins, however, the name applied to the whole island of Great Britain.) More poetically, England has been called “this scept’red isle…this other Eden” and “this Green and Pleasant Land”, quotations respectively from the poetry of William Shakespeare (in “Richard II”) and William Blake (“And did those feet in ancient time”).
This flag remained in national use until 1707, when the Union Flag (which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606) was adopted for all purposes to unite the whole of Great Britain under a common flag.
The most important national symbol is the Lions of Anjou. The three Hons were first used by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) in the late twelfth century. Many historians feel that the Three Lions are the true symbol of England.
They are shown in their heraldic form left and as they appear on the crest of the English National football team right.
Alternative names sometimes used for England have included the slang “Blighty”, from the Hindustani “bila yati” meaning “foreign”; and “Albion,” an ancient name popularised by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century, supposedly in reference to the white (Latin alba) cliffs of Dover. (In its origins, however, the name applied to the whole island of Great Britain.) More poetically, England has been called “this scept’red isle…this other Eden” and “this Green and Pleasant Land”, quotations respectively from the poetry of William Shakespeare (in “Richard II”) and William Blake (“And did those feet in ancient time”).