From the tales of a knight fighting dragons to the huge feasts, the story of St George is as iconic as the white and red flag. But like many early saints, the exact details of his life remain a mystery.
To celebrate St George’s Day on 23 April, we sat down with Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, His Majesty’s personal representative within the county, to ask what this day meant to her and some quickfire questions.
Susan Lousada, who has been in the role since 2022, said of St George’s Day; “It reminds me of those who we honour, and this goes back to 1940 when King George VI created an award for acts of the greatest heroism or courage in circumstance of extreme danger. The George Cross, named after the king, bears the image of St George with the dragon. The image of St George also features on many of the memorials built to honour those killed during the First World War.”
The flag itself is believed to have been used as far back as the 10th century. It was a widely-held belief that knights wearing the banner of St George would be protected in battle.
When it comes to more modern-day English heroes, the Lord Lieutenant named Alexander Fleming as her top pick. She said; “A chance event in a London laboratory in 1928 changed the course of medicine when Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist at St. Mary’s Hospital, returned from a holiday to find that on a special plate used to grow bacteria, a mould had contaminated it and produced an area on which the bacteria did not grow.
“After isolating the mould and identifying it as belonging to the Penicillium genus, Fleming obtained an extract from the mould, naming its active agent ‘penicillin’. This marked the discovery of antibiotics, a drug which has saved countless lives.”
Asked to name her favourite English actor, and the Lord Lieutenant offered; “Eddie Redmayne - anything starring him and I’m hooked.” But when it comes to a sporting hero, she had no doubt - the one and only Rob Edwards, manager of Luton Town FC. “He has taken Luton to the Premier League, and he is my sporting hero (along with the rest of the Luton team).”
This year in Bedford, St George’s Day will be celebrated with the raising of the flag outside Borough Hall and Old Town Hall.