ENGLAND honours its patron saint every year on April 23.
But while other countries mark their patron saints with a bank holiday, St George's Day is a normal working day in the country.
Saints days are celebrated on every day of the year.
And April 23 is associated with St George.
The date is believed to be when the legendary soldier died in 303 AD.
As well as being the patron saint of England, George is also celebrated in Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Ethiopia, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Catalonia among others.
Over the years there have been numerous calls to make St George’s Day a bank holiday in England.
In 2017, Jeremy Corbyn said that a Labour government would make all four British saint's days - St George’s Day (England), St David’s Day (Wales), St Andrew’s Day (Scotland) and St Patrick’s Day (Ireland) - into holidays for the whole of the UK.
And in 2024, Sir Keir Starmer urged Labour candidates to fly the St George's Cross.
Only the monarch has the power to make a day into a national holiday, although following convention this is only done on the advice of government ministers.
King Charles has to issue a Royal Proclamation to either change the date of a bank holiday or create a new one.
Celebrations have diminished over the centuries, although some parades and public activities still take place every year.
We commemorate the day by partaking in any English customs such as fetes and Morris dance.
It is traditional for Christian churches to commemorate Saint George on his feast day, or on the nearest Sunday.
This is often done with he singing of the traditional hymn Jerusalem.
Many pubs and houses are decorated with England's flag, much like when major sporting events are on.
The Feast of St George takes place in Trafalgar Square, London, every year, filled with food, music, and market stalls.
There are even the odd Punch & Judy show and town crier contests.
A feast featuring traditional fare is also held in many parts of England, and some regions organise theatre performances that include jousting and reenactments.
St George is thought to have been a soldier somewhere in the eastern Roman Empire, modern-day Turkey.
According to the Golden Legend - a popular collection of saints’ lives written in the 13th century - he was a hero knight who slayed a dragon.
The legend tells a story of a town in Libya which was terrorised by a dragon.
To appease the monster, townspeople offered it two sheep a day.
When the town ran out of sheep, the king devised a lottery system to feed the hungry dragon local children instead.
But, one day his own daughter was chosen and as she was being led down to the lake, heroic Saint George happened to ride past.
The story says that George offered to slay the dragon but only if the people converted to Christianity.
They did, and the king later built a church where the dragon was slain.
It is believed that St George died at the hands of Emperor Diocletian for refusing to denounce his faith.
He was declared a saint by Pope Gelasius in 494 but it wasn't until 1350 that King Edward III officially proclaimed him the patron saint of England.
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