PEDAGOGY OF PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL

EDUCATION
Year 3, group 1

Buhociu Georgiana Ramona

English culture and
civilization
SYMBOLS OF
ENGLAND
 The national symbols of England represents England and the English culture.The
national symbols of England are the St. George's cross (usually seen as a flag), the red rose,
the Three Lions crest (usually seen as a badge), the oak, the tea.

Who was St George?

St. George is the patron saint of England. His emblem, a red cross on a white
background, is the flag of England and part of the British flag. St George's emblem was adopted
by Richard The Lion Heart and brought to England in the 12th century. The king's soldiers
wore it on their tunics to avoid confusion in battle.

St George was a brave Roman soldier who protested against the Romans' torture of
Christians and died for his beliefs. The popularity of St George in England stems from the time
of the early Crusades when it is said that the Normans saw him in a vision and were
victorious.Saint George is popularly identified with England and English ideals of honour,
bravery and gallantry, but actually he wasn’t English at all. He was born in Turkey,Cappadocia.

The Three Lions Crest

Richard the Lionheart (1189 - 1199) used the three golden lions (sometimes described
as leopards) on their scarlet background as a powerful symbol of the English Throne during
the time of the Crusades.

His coat of arms was last changed in 1189 to three lions that represent his three positions
as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, and King of England.

The king’s banner was red with golden lions on it and that has been the crest of England
since then. The idea of lions on a crest didn’t come from Richard I, he adopted Henry I’s idea
of lions on the standards, but the difference is that Henry I had only one lion. When he married
the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland whose standard also featured a lion.

The lions on the standard became three when Henry I’s grandson Henry II of England
married Eleanor of Aquitaine whose standard at the time also featured a lion. Richard I was
Henry II’s son and adopted the “three lions” standard from his father. Richard the Lionheart’s
nickname was given to him because of his reputation and most likely the battle standard with
the three lions.

What is the motto of England?

" Dieu et mon Droit "
(French for ‘God and my right’)

The red rose

The Tudor Rose, also known as The Rose of England, was adopted as a symbol of peace
and merges a white rose (representing the Yorkists) and a red rose (representing the
Lancastrians). During the War of the Roses, these two sides fought over the control of the royal
house.

The Tudor rose is red with a white centre, symbolising the joining of the House of York
and the House of Lancaster, the end of the War of the Roses and the beginning of the Tudor
Dynasty. The Tudor rose features on the twenty pence coin and on the coat of arms of Canada.

The oak

The oak (specifically, the English oak) is the national tree of England, representing
strength and endurance. The Royal Oak and Oak Apple Day commemorate the escape of King
Charles II from the grasps of the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) after the Battle of
Worcester in 1651 (the last battle of the English Civil War).

He hid in an oak tree to avoid detection before making it safely into exile. The Major
Oak is an 800–1000 year old oak in Sherwood Forest, fabled as the principal hideout of Robin
Hood.
Tea

Tea is symbolic of England. In 2006, a government-sponsored survey confirmed that

a cup of tea constituted a national symbol of England. By an alternative view, it may be
considered symbol of Britain rather than England alone for its historical British connection
with Empire and India. It is also drunk widely and equally in England, Scotland and Wales.

The British fondness for tea is world-famous, and in Six Glasses, tea can be said to
symbolize not only Britain but the British Empire as well. Indeed, the Empire fought more than
one war with the goal of ensuring the flow of tea from its colonies into Britain. Even today, tea
is most popular in countries that were once colonies of the British Empire.

Bibliografie:

http://projectbritain.com/symbols.html
https://www.englandforever.org/national-symbols.php
https://www.slideshare.net