The English flag – a red cross on white – is the flag of St George, our legendary dragon slayer. The tale dates back to the tenth century and is thought to have been brought back to Britain from the East by the Crusaders. The original telling of the legend, recorded in The Golden Legend in about 1260, goes that St George slew a dragon that was terrorising a town in Libya. Infected with the plague, the dragon was kept appeased by being fed two sheep a day – until the sheep ran out, and the townspeople had to give it their children instead, chosen by lot. When the King’s daughter was chosen, and the King failed to persuade the people to spare her, St George came in and saved the day. Capturing the dragon, which then obediently came back to the city with him, St George promised to kill it if the people converted to Christianity. Subsequent tellings leave out the conversion to Christianity, but it is this conversion that explains the legend’s origins: it is about the West versus the East, and the triumph of Christianity over other religions. The legend has been depicted in art by the likes of Raphael and Tintoretto and has inspired countless retellings.
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