Symbolism

Every so often some academic (or foreigner) comes along and points out that the patron saint of England was neither English, nor ever been here and that we should get rid of him. They normally don't do it for St Patrick (Welshman, though he did end up in Ireland) or St Andrew (Jewish) mostly because they know the reaction they'll get.

Step forward Dr Markus Eichhorn.

Dragon-slaying martyr St George should be replaced as a symbol of England, university academics have said.

With national identity in sharp focus leading up to the World Cup, experts at the University of Nottingham have come up with a new idea.
They believe the English oak would be a far better symbol.
"St George is a peculiar symbol," says Dr Markus Eichhorn, from the University's school of biology.
"He was Turkish, he never visited this country and he has no particular associations with England."
He added: "What better symbol of England than the oak which has been a key element of the country's culture, geography and economy for thousands of years?"
Dr Eichhorn suggests May 29th as a potential date for a new English national day, replacing St George's Day on April 23rd.
Already known as Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day, it marks the day Charles II hid from the rebel forces in an oak tree after the battle of Worcester in 1651.
When the monarchy was restored in 1660 he decreed the date should be celebrated and that trees should be dressed as part of the festivities.

So not only not English, not only never lived here, but replace him with a tree too. This sort of thing comes around every year, though I do feel that Royal Oak day should have significance in a restored England, however a saint it is not, merely a symbol of the escape of Charles II and the restored monarchy. No, it's not where St George comes from that makes him significant to the English, it's what he represents, the patron saint of soldiers of being prepared to stand up to evil and wrongness, to defend the innocent, to do what is right no matter the odds against you. That is why St George was chosen, not because of where he came from, but what he represents. There are saints aplenty born in this land, but few who represent anything other than martyrdom and were in the past not wholly of England. Alfred the Great being one, a great man yes, but only king of Wessex, though oddly enough his reign started on 23 April 871 St Georges day.
I doubt anything will be done anyway, Dr Markus Eichhorn is simply headline grabbing, the English aren't about to change their Patron Saint, nor their flag, especially not these days when we feel under siege by the politically correct "Righteous" British. The popularity of St George and his day will continue to grow in England whether he was one of us or not simply because it is opposed by the "Righteous" in local councils and national government who hate the English and what we represent and wish we were regional and British.
So the more headlines like this that come up, the more the English dig their heels in, 14 years ago you hardly ever saw an English flag, now they're everywhere and not just for the football. St George's day parades were few and far between, now they're springing up all over the country. The English are slowly but surely waking up from the deadening, numbing hand of Britishness and finding new strength from old symbols and the "Righteous" hate this, which makes it all the more worth doing.