Talk:Saint George's Day

Scout hymn?
The scout hymn? I was a scout for many years, a beaver and cub too, and have never heard of the scout hymn. Grunners 15:32, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * No all we sang as scouts was either Kum Ba Ya or Ging Gang Goolie, but apprently there is one:, -- Francs2000 | talk  15:43, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Merge vote of Đurđevdan to St George's Day
I dont think the article should be merged with St. Georges Day, because it is not only the name of the Serbian St. George Day but also a Roma holiday with the same name (with no connection with St. Georges day, accept the date) and a song from the band Bijelo Dugme. Sveti Djordje in Serbia is also NOT a patron saint. Although I think, Djurdjevdan could be mentioned on the St. George Day article. But Djurdjevdan article should remain. Litany
 * Oppose a merging. (see explanation above) Litany 18:49, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Support merge: they are the same thing. --Mais oui! 19:23, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
 * It is not in total the same thing. Romas also use the word Djurdjevdan, with their own word Ederlazi. Djurdjevdan is far more known then Ederlazi. Why should not the article remain? Litany 18:02, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I also have to add that the Gorani, ethnic Slavs of Muslim faith, celebrates Djurdjevdan. They've kept a few Christian traditions although they are Muslims and that is what I have added to the Djurdjevdan article. All this is not mentionable here on St. George's Day - Litany 18:35, 11 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Oppose Different Cultural event, celebrated differently, by a different people, The English. No need to merge. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.231.166.144 (talk • contribs) 02:00, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Support - Djurdjevdan literally means "GEORGE'S DAY", celebrated on April 23 (Julian Calendar). Djurdjevdan is St George's Day the same as Mitrovdan is St Demetrius Day. 149.135.41.194 06:29, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Support : Should be merged with the different traditions noted in a section. Lincher 13:43, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Civil Partnership
I think that unless better documentation for that sentence is provided, that it be removed for not being NPOV. --evrik 17:40, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Voting to make a public holiday in England
I'm not entirely sure if it is correct of me to post this link:


 * www.stgeorgesday.com/voting.asp

But I thought it important to mention in the article that it soon might become a bank holiday? Seraphim Whipp 12:08, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Surely there are too many Bank Holidays in April/May anyhow? They're like London busses! 86.41.130.184 13:22, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

National flag
It's a sad, if accurate, relection on the tribal divides inherent in English society, that because the national flag is associated with sports fans, people who are disinterested in sport do not want to identify with it. 86.41.130.184 13:33, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

I think people are more hesitant to fly the flag because of its associations with the National Front and the BNP than sports. 150.204.153.85 08:40, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * It is sad. What's even sadder is that, when England and the English are concerned, the media seem to confuse national pride with racism.


 * It's also interesting that Google happily changes their logo to a shamrock covered green one on St. Patrick's Day, and yet today... nothing! -- JediLofty User 16:31, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * This article needs an image of St George's flag, happens to be the flag of England. I don't live in England and so don't associate it with sports fans or anyone else. It is what it is and this is an encyclopedia.--Brenont 03:47, 10 May 2007 (UTC)


 * England is a country not a nation, so it can't be the "English National Day", nor is there a national flag of England.88.105.241.70 (talk) 21:29, 23 April 2008 (UTC)


 * England is a country. The English are a nation.  And the English nation's national day is St George's Day, and their national flag is the Cross of St George.  Were you perhaps confusing nation with nation-state?  Binabik80 (talk) 01:57, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Also celebrated in Macedonia, Republic of
St. George's Day is also a very well known and celebrated day in the Republic of Macedonia, that was added and should be noted as such. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.87.56.76 (talk) 04:48, 6 May 2007 (UTC).

Literature reference
I have recently begun to read Bram Stoker's Dracula. In this book it is mentioned that St. George's Day gives full sway to evil things (as is said in the literature reference section). THis is actually the reason I first looked up the day. However, I find that no explanation here of the day represents that which the book does, what might be the reason for this? Please if you have responses e-mail them to me, thank you. 141.219.231.9 02:56, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Bosnia?
A Moslem nation has a patron saint? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 91.153.52.254 (talk) 15:48, 12 January 2008(UTC).

Dragon?
How is it that the word "dragon" does not appear in this article, yet two of the images depict St George killing one? 86.135.97.251 (talk) 06:01, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Agree A year on, I second this! St. George and Dragon-slaying go hand in hand. Does anyone have any reference material on the topic? Jddriessen (talk) 07:26, 23 April 2009 (UTC)


 * The dragon is now mentioned, but nothing about what the story is.--Jack Upland (talk) 09:40, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

Racist connotation
This day and the saint has racist connotations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.105.144.152 (talk) 17:02, 23 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Why?Because some leftwing crazy people wan´t to destroy english culture?PS:i´m not english. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.54.159.193 (talk) 08:47, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes indeed. The whole imagery of Saint George & the dragon portrays England as the valiant Christian warrior triumphing over the nasty heathen foreigner. This is why it was adopted as a national emblem during the crusades, & remained a powerful symbol during the Reformation, the British Empire and the country's many wars down through the centuries, right up to the Second World War. However, it is the kind of imagery we should now be distancing ourselves from, especially in light of the UK's involvement in the 'War on Terror' & the kind of racial/cultural tensions this is causing at home & abroad. 81.157.4.229 (talk) 18:54, 23 April 2008 (UCT)

Despite this, we can't ignore its existence because it's now considered distasteful by some. You could say that Easter and the killing of Jesus are racist and distasteful by the same criteria. Jddriessen (talk) 07:29, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

I think this should be mentioned in the article but i'm not sure of the wording


 * http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-big-question-who-was-st-george-and-why-is-celebrating-him-so-contentious-1672583.html

I would suggest something like...

In England, St George and the English flag are sometimes associated with extreem right wing political views and sporting violence, there is a conflict between celebrating english culture and risking offending a multicultural society.

Please feel free to edit this into the article --Davelane (talk) 11:52, 2 June 2009 (UTC)


 * But of course if you are going to edit it into the article (and why the original contributor couldn't be bothered to do so himself is beyond me) then please ensure you spell "extreme" correctly, and capitalise "English". While you're pondering that, perhaps you could also check your sources and provide references for your non NPOV statement "sometimes" - when? "associated with" - in what way and by whom?  "there is a conflict" - according to whom?  This isn't encyclopedic, it's just namby-pamby PC-ism. 109.94.137.1 (talk) 08:04, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

Removed inaccurate mention of Independent article
I deleted the following, because the linked article does not condemn St George's Day celebrations (it welcomes a celebration of multicultural-England) ..does not call it too Anglo-Saxon. It suggests that the English are wrong to Anglo-Saxonise a Middle Eastern well respected across Southern Europe and Western Asia ..does not make demands, but recommends displaying different qualities of England in the celebrations.

Since whether to celebrate St George's day is a contentious topic in the UK, this misrepresentative stand-alone sentence seems to be a right-wing straw man rather than a useful addition to the encyclopedia.

In 2007, Independent writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown condemned St. George’s Day celebrations for being too Anglo-Saxon and demanded that the day should celebrate the multicultural aspects of England today. MickO&#39;Bants (talk) 22:00, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

St Georges day is a part of english culture and therefore should be celebrated. Nk70 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.151.194.248 (talk) 20:53, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Removed acts of vandalism
Watch out for unregistered users vandalising this article. I have corrected quite abit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DanDoughty (talk • contribs) 14:08, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

El Día de Llibre?
In the artlicle under "St. George's day in Catalonia," it says the day is also called "el día del llibre (Day of the Book)." Thing is, I'm pretty sure "llibre" isn't a word in Spanish. If it's a Catalan word, the phrase here is mixing Catalan and Spanish. I'm going to change "llibre" to "libro" which means book in Spanish. 68.94.195.205 (talk) 17:25, 26 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Someone has already reverted this, apparently correctly. See, for example, this Catalonian article, where the title uses 'diada' but the text uses 'dia'. Matruman (talk) 08:01, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

Greek Orthodox Church
Given that the Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople was the basis of all Christianity before the Catholics divided the Christian Church(schism), do you think maybe they should be included as an Orthodox Church (after all they were the original Christian Church). Don't you think all the George's of Greek origin celebrate this day, particularly as Greeks hold holy Christian name days in higher regard than their birthdays? Please correct your historical negligence.

Thanks,

George Theodore —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.168.128.33 (talk) 04:06, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

George, I think that this isn't really what Wikipedia is for: we need to keep a neutral point of view. A Catholic, Protestant or Russian Orthodox person would probably disagree with you. All Wikipedia can do in these cases is to document the differing views and the reasons for them: Wikipedia isn't there to decide debates that have gone on for years.

If you think that this article could be improved so it tells us more about the wonderful celebrations that go on in Greece on and around St George's Day, that's great: please do contribute. You'll need to make sure that your contributions are verifiable, and follow other Wikipedia conventions, but I'm sure you could do this and I'd be very pleased to see your valuable contribution.

Parsonscat (talk) 07:11, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

The main article says "In Greece, Saint George's Day is celebrated on 23 April, unless this is Easter Sunday (when it is celebrated on the first Monday after Easter Sunday)." This does not hold true for 2016, when St George's Day was on 2 May (the first Monday after Easter Sunday) even though 23 April was not Easter Sunday. I'm confused about the exact rule. Can someone who knows please correct the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.198.20.255 (talk) 10:22, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

Removed sentence
Under England:

"In recent years people have opposed the celebration of St George's Day on the grounds that it attracts racist thugs and encourages nationalism."

I have removed this statement, because it is essentially a weasel sentence. It doesn't state who thinks that and a quick search on Google provides no evidence of 'racist thugs' and St Georges Day. The only evidence I could find was that a Bradford council cancelled a St Georges Day festival because they thought it might encourage race-riots, no evidence that it does do these things, quite the reverse. White43 (talk) 11:31, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

St. George's Day in Turkic world ?
Turks celebrate a day which is called Hıdırellez at exactly same time with St. George's Day. Same day is celebrated by Balkan Peoples ( named ederlezi ). St. George's Day and Hıdırellez (or Ederlezi) are maybe related. Is there somebody to explain that? Thanks... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.246.160.128 (talk) 17:08, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

I don't know and can only speculate, however I've got a reasonable guess. Sometimes when a country changes its religion, the new religion finds a way to 'adopt' popular holidays. Pagans often complain that Christians have taken over all their festivals, for example! Perhaps St George's Day was celebrated in the days of the Byzantine Empire, and when that fell to the Turks, the new Muslim authorities found a way to keep having a popular celebration?

This is just speculation - but perhaps it will lead someone to uncover some interesting verifiable facts?

Parsonscat (talk) 07:20, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Modern English Celebrations
With regard to modern St George's Day celebrations in England, the article states:

Another custom is to fly or adorn the St George's Cross flag in some way: pubs in particular can be seen on 23 April festooned with garlands of St George's crosses. It is customary for the hymn "Jerusalem" to be sung in cathedrals, churches and chapels on St George's Day, or on the Sunday closest to it. Traditional English foods and drink (e.g. afternoon tea) may be consumed.

While traditionalists may go to church and have afternoon tea, most English people are far more likely to enjoy a promotional pint of real ale in their local flag-festooned pub. Regardless of the church's official date of St George's Day, real ale promotions are centred around 23rd April.

These promotions have become so commonplace that CAMRA members talk of linking "Real Ale" with St George's Day as Guiness have done with St Patrick's Day. This isn't a new thing as the London Evening Standard found widespread support for the idea back in 2003.

Please could someone edit the article to make the modern celebrations sound a bit more realistic? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Griklot (talk • contribs) 00:06, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Interesting article for ESL learners
Being able to learn about cultural aspects such as how St George's Day is celebrated across the world is always very interesting and useful for ESL learners and teachers. --Mjesusm (talk) 09:38, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Inaccuracy in Celebrations
In the fifth paragraph of the "Celebrations" headline there is a slight error with the phrase " Catalan as La Diada de Sant Jordi and it is traditional to give a rose and a book to a loved one." Actually only women get roses and men only get books. Also it is quite common for catalan Women to give books to their male friends as well I have also witnessed Guys giving roses to their female friends (classmates & coworkers) as well, but this is not as common as the books. Funkyhead (talk) 12:50, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Add link to the Hebrew article
Please add this link https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%92%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%92%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A1_%D7%94%D7%A7%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A9 to the Hebrew (עברית) translation of this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by שכיית חמדה (talk • contribs) 11:56, 4 January 2014 (UTC)


 * That is to Saint George, not his day. The Saint is already linked to the equivalent article in English. &#39;&#39;&#39;tAD&#39;&#39;&#39; (talk) 23:08, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

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Đurđevdan and Yuri's day
Until yesterday Yuri's Day stated: "Yuri's Day ... is the Russian name for either of the two feasts of Saint George celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church." The lead for Đurđevdan has "... "George's day" in Serbian, Gergyovden "George's day" in Bulgarian, Jurjevo "George's" in Croatian and Bosnian or Gjurgjuvden (Ѓурѓовден) in Macedonian, Yuri's day of spring in Russia is ... celebrated on April 23 by the Julian calendar (May 6 by Gregorian calendar)..." Later on the same page under Eastern Slavs we have: "Yuri's day of spring (Russian: Юрьев день, Егорий Вешний, Yuriev Den, Egoriy Veshniy) is the Russian name for either of the two feasts of Saint George celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church." I am not a Russian speaker, but "Yuriev Den" looks closer to "Yuri's day" than it does to "Đurđevdan". The paragraph ends: "One of the Russian forms of the name George being Yuri, the two feasts are popularly known as Vesenniy Yuriev Den (Yuri's Day in the Spring) and Osenniy Yuriev Den (Yuri's Day in the Autumn)" . So yes, I did check very carefully the dates. If you would care to knock both Đurđevdan and Yuri's Day into shape (preferably with English language sources) it would greatly assist English speakers. As things stand at the moment the three rely on uncited assertions. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 13:05, 16 May 2016 (UTC)

Replacing St George
The following places too much weight on one county (Suffolk) of England and their POV. All the working sources are BBC sources from Suffolk talking about replacing St. George with St. Edmund which has close ties to the area. Until I read this article I was unaware of any national campaigns to replace St. George.

''There have also been calls to replace St. George as patron saint of England on the grounds that he was an obscure figure who had no direct connection with the country. However, there is no obvious consensus as to whom to replace him with, though names suggested include Edmund the Martyr, Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, or Saint Alban, with the last having topped a BBC Radio 4 poll on the subject. Recently there have been calls to reinstate St Edmund as the patron Saint of England as he was displaced by George some 400 years ago.''

However, I am unsure how this could be amended to reflect the limited nature, or whether to just remove the below from the article. --White&#38;BlueWasp (talk) 11:20, 22 December 2017 (UTC)


 * There's also potentially an issue here as to whether this belongs in this article, or whether it should go in another article: the campaigns are about St. George as patron saint, not about the St. George's Day in particular. The Parson's Cat (talk) 08:38, 22 April 2019 (UTC)


 * Yes, this is questionable.--Jack Upland (talk) 09:41, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

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