The Patron Saints of the UK
Three of the UK's four patron saints are on the Union Flag. The fourth, Wales's St David, is missing, and the dragon's absence has nothing to do with him.
Published
Quick Facts
- England
- St George, 23 April, red cross on white
- Scotland
- St Andrew, 30 November, white saltire on blue
- Wales
- St David (Dewi Sant), 1 March
- Northern Ireland
- St Patrick, 17 March, shared with the island of Ireland
- Union Flag of 1606
- Combined the crosses of St George and St Andrew
- Union Flag of 1801
- Added St Patrick's red saltire after union with Ireland
- Born in the places they protect?
- Only David is thought to have been; George came from Cappadocia, Andrew from Galilee, Patrick from Roman Britain
- Earliest big boost for George
- Edward III's Order of the Garter, founded 1348
Only one of the four was probably born at home
The UK's patron saints are a strikingly well-travelled bunch. St George was a Roman soldier from Cappadocia, in modern Turkey, who was martyred around 303 under Diocletian. He probably never set foot in England. St Andrew was a Galilean fisherman and one of Jesus's apostles. St Patrick was born in Roman Britain, which makes him a Briton who became the patron of Ireland. St David, or Dewi Sant, is the home-grown exception. He was a sixth-century Welsh churchman who founded a monastery in the far south-west of Pembrokeshire, on the site of today's St Davids cathedral.
Why England picked a soldier from Turkey
George was known in England long before he became the national patron. His cult grew with the Crusades, and Edward III made him the focus of the Order of the Garter, founded in 1348. English armies later fought under his red cross, and the dragon-slaying legend that clings to him arrived from medieval storytelling long after his death. He is not an English exclusive. George is also a patron of Portugal, Georgia and Catalonia, among others. His flag, a red cross on white, is now flown on England's churches and at its football matches.
The apostle whose bones supposedly washed up in Fife
Scotland's tale of St Andrew involves a shipwreck. According to medieval legend, a monk called Regulus, or St Rule, was told to take Andrew's relics to the ends of the earth, and was wrecked on the Fife coast at the place that became St Andrews. The X-shaped saltire is tied to the tradition that Andrew was crucified on a diagonal cross. The white-on-blue flag was in use in Scotland for centuries, and Andrew is named in the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320. Scotland has had a St Andrew's Day bank holiday on 30 November since a 2007 act of the Scottish Parliament.
Patrick: kidnapped, enslaved, then sent back
Patrick's own story is the most dramatic. Born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, he was seized by Irish raiders as a teenager and put to work as a shepherd. He escaped, returned home, then came back to Ireland as a missionary. The shamrock as a teaching tool for the Trinity is a popular tradition rather than something Patrick himself recorded. Downpatrick in County Down is the town traditionally linked with his burial. In Northern Ireland, 17 March is a bank holiday, though Patrick is a saint shared across the whole island rather than owned by one side of the border.
Why the Union Flag has no Welsh dragon
The Union Flag was built in stages. In 1606, after James VI of Scotland became James I of England, the red cross of St George and the white saltire of St Andrew were combined. In 1801, after the union with Ireland, a red saltire for St Patrick was added. Wales never got its own element because, by then, it had long been legally part of the Kingdom of England, thanks to the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542. In heraldic terms there was no separate kingdom to represent. The red dragon on green and white, Y Ddraig Goch, is Wales's flag, but it has no place in the Union Flag. St David has his own banner too: a gold cross on black. It is a quirk of constitutional history, not a snub to David.
Four saints, four very different party days
Wales makes the most of 1 March with daffodils, leeks and children in traditional dress. St David is said to have urged followers to "do the little things", which is a Welsh motto to this day. He was canonised in 1120. St Patrick's Day is a global party, with parades from Belfast and Downpatrick to the other side of the Atlantic. St Andrew's Day is a celebration of Scottish culture, with ceilidhs and food. St George's Day is the quietest of the four. It is not a bank holiday in England, although more flags and pubs mark it each year. And Cornwall has its own patron, St Piran, with a black flag with a white cross, which is a reminder that the UK's saints are more numerous than the four on the list.
Notable people
- St George
- St Andrew
- St David
- St Patrick
- St Piran
- Edward III
- James VI and I
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