Cry God for Harry! England and St George!

April 23rd has been St George's Day since 1222. St G is also patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice; soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers, and he helps those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis. And Scouts. So he spreads himself a bit thinly. The whole business with the dragon came about because the story, which was made up by a medieval French bishop, chimed in with a similar Anglo-Saxon legend, and then Caxton printed it in a book called The Golden Legend, making it very popular. AW

The Titanic centenary

This is the flag of the merchant navy, to commemorate all those who died or survived the sinking 100 years ago today. Especially to the memory of my relatives, Arthur West, who died, and his wife Ada, who was pregnant with their third child, and their two little girls, who survived. Arthur climbed into the lifeboat to give his wife milk for the baby and then climbed out again. AW

Falklands anniversary

The process that would lead to the liberation of the Argentinean people from the yoke of a murderous regime started 30 years ago, when they were unwise enough to invade the Falkland Islands. We are flying the flag of the Royal Navy, to salute the 67 Royal Marines who mounted an heroic defence against an initial Argentinean force of 1000, plus armoured vehicles. SW