St George’s Day: Google Doodle celebrates dragon slayer and patron saint of England

Roman solider beheaded for refusing to renounce Christian faith has stood as emblem of English heroism for centuries

Today England celebrates its patron saint George, the mighty dragon slayer.

As the latest Google Doodle marks the occasion, many will be wondering who this mythic figure was and how he came to be associated with England.

George was a Roman soldier, thought to have been born into Greek nobility in Cappadocia – modern Turkey – in 280 AD. He is said to have served the Emperor Dicoletian as a Tribune in the province of Palestine.

A proud Christian, George refused to renounce his faith when Rome later chose to purge its ranks of outside influence during the Great Persecution.

He was imprisoned, tortured, dragged through the streets of the Palestinian city of Lydda and finally beheaded on 23 April 303 AD, rather than apostatise.

His bravery in facing death is said to have so impressed the Empress Prisca that she privately became a Christian.

George’s martyrdom inspired King Edward III to make him England’s patron saint in 1327 – replacing the Anglo-Saxons’ favourite, St Edmund.

Debate still continues today over the choice of national figurehead, with some feeling that George should be replaced by Edmund or another candidate more closely associated with England like St Alban, who is venerated as the first British Christian martyr.

George is also honoured as the patron saint of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Serbia; of the regions of Aragon and Catalonia in Spain; and of the cities of Beirut, Genoa, Istanbul, Moscow and Venice.

He is also the saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and farmers, while his invocation is said to help those beset by plague, leprosy or syphilis.

The legend of his slaying a dragon appears to originate in the Eastern Orthodox Church and tales told by warriors during the Crusades.

The story takes place in Silene, a city in Libya that was terrorised by a scaly beast, riddled with plague, who lived in a local lake. The creature demanded an offering of two sheep a day.

When the townsfolk ran out of livestock, they prepared to sacrifice their own children to its unwavering appetite at which point George, a knight errant, intervened to kill the monster and rid the people of its tyranny – on the condition that they converted to Christianity in exchange.

While the fable cannot be taken literally, it has enormous symbolic weight as an image of heroism and gallantry and remains deeply embedded within Christian culture across the world.

In England, the date of George’s execution coincides with the birth and death of William Shakespeare, our greatest playwright, who conjures the image of out patron saint in Henry V as the young king rallies his troops before the Battle of Agincourt.

“I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,

Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:

Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’”

While the day itself was once celebrated with feasts similar to those enjoyed on Christmas Day, the occasion’s popularity waned in the 18th century following England’s union with Scotland.

More recently, flags bearing the Cross of St George have been tarnished by association with violent far-right political groups, skinheads and football hooligans.

But the case for a timely revisionist rereading of George as a positive multicultural icon is a compelling one.

He was, after all, an immigrant from a diverse background who fought for his adopted cause without compromising his beliefs – mixing with people from across Europe in the Roman legions – and knew the pain and sorrow of being victimised for his principles.

The revival of interest in George as an emblem of national pride has been encouraged in recent years by the likes of English Heritage, the Scouts and by Boris Johnson during his tenure as Mayor of London.

Parts of England do still honour George with annual fetes and pageants and traditional entertainments like morris dancing and Punch and Judy shows, while pubs fly the flag and “Jerusalem” rings out in churches and chapels.