Customs and traditions in the UK

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Customs and traditions in the UK
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• The United Kingdom is a unitary state
  consisting of four countries England, Northern
  Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The head of state of
  the United Kingdom is Queen Elizabeth II, who has
  reigned as monarch since 1952. Each country
• has its own saint patron,
• flag and history.

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• 23 April is the national day of England - St
  George's Day.

The flag of England
St. George
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The Legend of Saint George and the Dragon St.
George travelled for many months by land and sea
until he came to Libya. He met there a man who
told him that a fire-breathing dragon appeared at
their country. He demanded the sacrifice of a
beautiful maiden and all the young girls had been
killed. The king's daughter alone remained. When
St. George heard this story, he was determined to
try and save the princess, so he rested that
night in the hermit's hut, and at daybreak set
out to the valley where the dragon lived and went
in. As soon as the dragon saw him it rushed from
its cave, roaring with a sound louder than
thunder. Its head was immense and its tail fifty
feet long. But St. George was not afraid. He
struck the monster with his spear, hoping he
would wound it. The dragon's scales were so hard
that the spear broke into a thousand pieces, and
St. George fell from his horse. Fortunately he
rolled under an enchanted orange tree against
which poison could not prevail, so that the
venomous dragon was unable to hurt him. Within a
few minutes he had recovered his strength and was
able to fight again. He smote the beast with his
sword but the dragon poured poison on him and his
armour split in two. Once more he refreshed
himself from the orange tree and then, with his
sword in his hand, he rushed at the dragon and
pierced it under the wing where there were no
scales, so that it fell dead at his feet.
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Later the Saints name was shouted as a battle
cry by English knights. The national emblem and
national flower of England is a red rose The
flower has been adopted as Englands emblem since
the time of the Wars of the Roses - civil wars
between the royal house of Lancaster (whose
emblem was a red rose) and the royal house of
York (whose emblem was a white rose).
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17 March is the national day of Northern Ireland
- St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick, the patron
saint of Ireland, is credited with bringing
Christianity to Ireland. He was born in Wales
somewhere around AD 385. He was carried off by
pirates and spent six years in slavery before
escaping and training as a missionary. The most
famous story about Saint Patrick is him driving
the snakes from Ireland. He died on 17th March in
AD 461 and this day has since been commemorated
as St. Patricks Day.
The flag of Northern Ireland
St. Patricks Day - Trafalgar square
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The national emblem of Ireland is th Shamrock.
Patrick used the three-leaved shamrock to explain
how the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit could exist as separate parts of the same
being. His followers took to wearing a shamrock
in celebration. St.Patricks Day is celebrated
with parades in the large cities, the wearing of
the green and drinking guiness (traditional drink
of Ireland).
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30 November is the national day of Scotland - St
Andrew's Day St. Andrew was one of Christ's
twelve apostles. Some of his bones are said to
have been brought to what is now St. Andrews in
Fife during the 4th century. Since medieval times
the X-shaped saltire cross upon which St. Andrew
was supposedly crucified has been the Scottish
national symbol. The cross St. Andrew was
crucified on has been adopted as the national
flag of Scotland, later incorporated into the
Union Flag. One old legend says that in 832 AD an
army of Scots led by King Angus was facing an
army from the kingdom of Northumbria under
Athelstan. The Scottish king prayed to St Andrew
for help, and the saltire of St Andrew (the
diagonal cross) appeared above them against the
background of a clear blue sky. This encouraged
the Scots and the battle was duly fought and won,
and the saltire is now the national flag
(reputedly the oldest national flag in Europe.)
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The national emblem and national flower of
Scotland is the thistle, a prickly-leaved purple
flower which was first used in the 15th century
as a symbol of defence. The Scottish Bluebell is
also seen as the flower of Scotland.
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The national dress of Scotland is a kilt with
shirt, waistcoat and tweed jacket, stockings with
garter flashes, brogue shoes and a sporran.
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1 March is the national day of Wales St.
Davids day
He was a church official he was later regarded
as a saint and as the patron saint of Wales.
David is a native of the country of which he is
patron saint, and a relatively large amount of
information is known about his life. The most
famous story about Saint David tells how he was
preaching to a huge crowd and the ground is said
to have risen up, so that he was standing on a
hill and everyone had a better chance of hearing
him.
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The national emblems of Wales are daffodils and
leeks. St David's Day is commemorated by the
wearing of daffodils or leeks. Both plants are
traditionally regarded as national emblems. There
are many explanations of how the leek came to be
adopted as the national emblem of Wales. One is
that St David advised the Welsh, on the eve of
battle with the Saxons, to wear leeks in their
caps to distinguish friend from the enemy. On St
David's Day, some children in Wales dress in
their national costume, which consists of a tall
black hat, white frilled cap and long dress.