The national symbols of England
The Flag
The flag of England is represented by a red cross on a white background. This is known as St George’s Cross and has its origins in the Crusades, when soldiers were identified by this red-coloured cross on their white tunics. St George was claimed to be the Patron Saint of England at the time, so the cross became associated with him.
The Coat of Arms
The anthem
The costume
The National Floral Emblem –
The Tudor Rose
The Tudor Rose, also known as The Rose of England, was adopted as a symbol of peace and merges a white rose and a red rose. During the War of the Roses, these two sides fought over the control of the royal house.
National Tree – The Oak Tree
The oak tree represents strength, beauty and survival through trials. As such, it is the perfect representation of this enduring country. King Charles II escaped parliamentarians after his father was executed and hid in an old oak tree. Since then, this escape has been called the Royal Oak and is a well-known account for many locals.
The British National Anthem dates back to the eighteenth century.
'God Save The King' was a patriotic song first publicly performed in London in 1745, which came to be known as the National Anthem at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The words and tune are anonymous, and may date back to the seventeenth century.
In September 1745 the 'Young Pretender' to the British Throne, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, defeated the army of King George II at Prestonpans, near Edinburgh.
In a fit of patriotic fervour after news of Prestonpans had reached London, the leader of the band at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, arranged 'God Save The King' for performance after a play. It was a tremendous success and was repeated nightly.
This practice soon spread to other theatres, and the custom of greeting monarchs with the song as he or she entered a place of public entertainment was thus established.
There is no authorised version of the National Anthem as the words are a matter of tradition. Additional verses have been added down the years, but these are rarely used.
The words used today are those sung in 1745, substituting 'Queen' for 'King' where appropriate. On official occasions, only the first verse is usually sung.
The words of the National Anthem are as follows:
God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen.
Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign.
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen.
The British tune has been used in other countries. European visitors to Britain in the eighteenth century noticed the advantage of a country possessing such a recognised musical symbol.
In total, around 140 composers, including Beethoven, Haydn and Brahms, have used the tune in their compositions.
The Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, or the Royal Arms for short, is the official coat of arms of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II.[1] These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom. Variants of the Royal Arms are used by other members of the Royal Family; and by the British government in connection with the administration and government of the country. In Scotland, the Queen has a separate version of the Royal Arms, a variant of which is used by the Scotland Office.
The shield is quartered, depicting in the first and fourth quarters the three passant guardant lions of England; in the second, the rampant lion and double tressure flory-counterflory of Scotland; and in the third, a harp for Ireland.[2] The crest is a statant guardant lion wearing the St Edward's Crown, himself on another representation of that crown. The dexter supporter is a likewise crowned English lion; the sinister, a Scottish unicorn. According to legend a free unicorn was considered a very dangerous beast; therefore the heraldic unicorn is chained,[3] as were both supporting unicorns in the Royal coat of arms of Scotland. In the greenery below, athistle, Tudor Rose and shamrock are present, representing Scotland, England and Ireland respectively. The coat features both themotto of English monarchs, Dieu et mon droit (God and my right), and the motto of the Order of the Garter, Honi soit qui mal y pense(shame upon him who thinks evil of it) on a representation of the Garter behind the shield.
The male standard order of English National Dress is based on a mix of north European and Old English Dress. Thus the deep Red and ‘off’ White reflects both the English national colours of St George, The English White Dragon, and Nordic influences. This acknowledges the Viking and Saxon influence within England. The model wears a Seax knife on his front to denote he is a free Englishman. His trousers and smock are of well spun wool. He wears his own ‘Timberland’ style ground boots to reflect modern dress influences and practicalities. The male standard order of dress is smart, practical and easy to wear. Unseen in this plate is his white linen under shirt or tunic, which form the smock for the warm weather order shown below. As an alternative, and like the ‘female’ English National Dress, linens or other materials can be used for the smock and trousers, wool is not practical.
This dress is based on English female dress from the 6th Century AD (see below). The dress is for modern use so the model wears her own style ground boots for safety, ease of movement and comfort. But, any kind of footwear can be worn as per occasion. She holds a Seax knife on the front. The Seax is the sign of a free English person. She wears a deep Red over dress, which is cut shorter than the light Blue summer ‘kyrtle’ dress. Unseen are trousers in the same wode Blue linen, representing the blue of the English King St Edmund. This is a basic finish of design. Embroidery can be added to the light Blue drape on the front of the over dress.
