Posted on: 2nd October 2025

Sometimes everything comes together perfectly. You might be surprised to read this, but I
am currently writing a graphic novel about St George. I don’t want to say too much about it
as I am negotiating the contract with the publisher. What I will say is that while it is set in a
semi-fictional past (St George himself is semi-fictional at best), it is really about what it
means to be English today. What this means is that the illustrator of the story has been
drawing a lot of St George’s flags over the last few weeks. Billy Bragg, who in the last few
weeks has been advocating for a more generous understanding of Englishness, makes an
appearance as a bard.

I’ve had to do a lot of research about George over the last year. One thing I learned is that
he emerged as the ‘top’ patron saint of England in 1348, primarily because king Edward III
was trying to recruit more soldiers to fight in the Hundred Years War and George was seen
as an example of a military leader. Edward set up The Order of the Garter as his version of
The Knights of the Round Table, and both the order and Edward’s new chapel in Windsor
were dedicated to George. Over the next hundred years or so, George rose to prominence,
while England’s other patrons receded.

‘Other patrons? Who were they?’, I hear you cry. Well, I’m glad you asked. Let me tell you a
little bit about them:

St Edmund the Martyr was a king of East Anglia who was killed by Vikings in around 869
when he refused to renounce his faith. He is still commemorated at Bury St Edmunds.

St Edward the Confessor was the last king of the house of Wessex, remembered for his
faithfulness to God, his great prayerfulness, and for building Westminster Abbey, where he is
still commemorated to this day. His rule is remembered as a time of peace and prosperity.
When he died in 1066 England fell into the chaos of war.

The real St George is not a terrible saint at all. He had a Syrian father and a Palestinian
Christian mother and was probably born in what is now Turkey. He also was martyred for his
faith and by the 4th century he was venerated as a saint in Palestine. However, the dragon-
slaying military saint that we venerate in this country is a medieval concoction, brought back
to England after the crusades.

Imagine if the patron saint of England was known to be someone willing to die for their faith
rather than kill for it. That’s the truth about both George and Edmund. Or what if our patron
saint was known for their deep spirituality and peacefulness, as Edward was? Perhaps we
English would think twice about using the flag of our national saint as a marker of territory,
and work harder to emulate these wonderful Christian heroes who came before us.