St George is the patron saint of England.

St George's Day is on 23rd April and it is the national day of England.

St George died on 23rd April 303 AD.

In 1222, the 23rd of April was declared a feast day or public holiday by the Synod of Oxford in honour of St George.

It is thought King Edward III proclaimed St George the Patron Saint of England in either 1344 or 1348.

In 1415, after the English won the Battle of Agincourt against the French, Archbishop Chichele ordered that St George's Day was to be a great feast day and celebrated like Christmas Day.

St George's Day celebrations

St George's Day celebrations aren't usually as big as the celebrations for St Patrick's Day (Ireland), St David's Day (Wales) and St Andrew's Day (Scotland), but they are gradually becoming more popular

Many people think that people in England should be more patriotic and celebrate English history and culture more. Some people also think that St George's Day should be a public holiday.

On St George's Day some people wear a red rose in their lapel, and fly the English flag from their homes and businesses. There are also live music events; village fetes with Morris Dancing and Maypole Dancing, and festivals with entertainment, food and exhibitions.

Morris Dancing

Who was St George?

St George was born in Turkey in approximately 270 AD, to Christian parents.

He moved to Palestine with his mother after his father died.

St George became a Roman soldier and he was well known for his bravery.

He protested against the torture and persecution of Christians and he was put in prison and then killed for his beliefs.

The most famous legend about St George is the story about his fight with a dragon to save the life of a princess.

St George's emblem is a red cross on a white background. This is also the English flag, which forms part of the British flag.

St George is the patron saint of many countries. Do you celebrate St George's Day in your country?

Do you think people in England should celebrate St George's Day more?

Image of George and the dragon © John Haslam Image of English flag © James Cridland

Cornwall is a county in the South West of England, in the UK.

St Piran’s Day is Cornwall’s national day, and it’s celebrated on the 5th March every year. St Piran is the national saint of Cornwall.

According to legend, St Piran was born in Ireland in the sixth century. The Kings of Ireland were suspicious of his miraculous powers so he was tied him to a millstone and thrown over a cliff into the sea. St Piran survived and floated across the sea and landed on a beach on the coast of Cornwall.

St Piran preached Christianity and many Cornish people came to hear him speak. The remains of St Piran’s chapel is believed to be the oldest site of Christian worship in the British Isles.

St Piran is also the patron saint of tin miners and said to have accidentally rediscovered tin smelting. A stone on his hearth leaked molten tin in the heat and formed a white cross on the black stone – this is origin of the Cornish flag with its white cross on a black background.

There are many celebrations for St Piran’s Day across Cornwall, including music, parades and fêtes. At the site of St Piran’s oratory (chapel) actors and musicians act out St Pirans life story.

Cornish language

Cornish is a Celtic language (the others are Breton, Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic, Manx, Welsh).

It is thought that the last native speaker of Cornish died in 1777. In recent years people have been trying to revive the Cornish language and it is now taught in schools and used more and more in public life.

Cornish is recognized as a living minority language by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Here are some phrases in Cornish from the Cornish Language Partnership:

Dydh da!  Hello!

Myttin da!  Good morning!

Fatla genes?  How are you?

Mar pleg  Please

Meur ras  Thank you

Penn-bloodh Lowen  Happy Birthday!

Gool Peran Lowen!  Happy St Piran's Day!  

Counties image © Paul Callan Cornish flag © Edward Webb

Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Christian festival of Lent.

Lent is traditionally a time for fasting, and Pancake Day is a good way to use up foods that were given up for Lent e.g. eggs and butter. Today people are more likely to give up luxuries such as chocolate.

Pancakes are thin and flat and made from flour, eggs, milk and butter. They are fried, then rolled up, and usually eaten immediately – often with lemon and sugar.

Pancake Day is on different dates each year, depending on the date for Easter.

Pancake Day Races

Many villages across the UK will have Pancake Races on Pancake Day.  Participants run around a course, often dressed in an apron, carrying a frying pan and flipping a pancake in the air.

The first Pancake Race is said to have been in the village of Olney in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1445. An old story tells that a housewife busy at work in her kitchen heard the church Shriving Bell calling villagers to confess their sins on Shrove Tuesday. The housewife didn't want to be too late to confess her sins so she ran straight to the church while still holding her frying pan and pancake.

Parliamentary Pancake Day

The Parliamentary Pancake Day takes place outside the Houses of Parliament in London.

Lords, MPs and journalists race each other in aid of the brain injury charity Rehab UK. 

Pancake recipe

Here's a recipe for basic pancakes with sugar and lemon

The first pancake recipe is said to have appeared in a cookbook dated 1439.

The world's biggest pancake was made in Rochdale near Manchester, England in 1994. It weighed approximately 3 tons and was approximately 15 metres in diameter – just imagine how many calories were in that pancake

Will you be eating pancakes on Pancake Day?

Images © Ffion Atkinson and © Robin Myerscough

February 6th is the Diamond Jubilee anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne.

Sixty years ago, on the 6th February 1952, King George VI died and his daughter Elizabeth became Queen at the age of 25.

To celebrate the anniversary, a 41-gun salute will be held in Hyde Park in London today, followed by a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London.

Elizabeth's coronation (when she was crowned Queen) took place in Westminster Abbey on 2nd June 1953. The ceremony was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Representatives and citizens from countries around the world attended the ceremony, and many more people around the world listened to the ceremony on the radio and watched it on television.

The Queen is Head of State of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth countries.

The only other British monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee anniversary was Queen Victoria in 1897.

The Queen's full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary and she was born on 21st April 1926. She is the elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Elizabeth had one sister, Princess Margaret, who was born in 1930.

Elizabeth married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. They have four children (Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward) and eight grandchildren.

Princess Elizabeth did not expect to become Queen. When her grandfather, King George V, died in 1936, his eldest son (Elizabeth's uncle) became King Edward VIII, but in that same year King Edward VIII decided to give up the throne in order to marry the woman he loved, Mrs Wallis Simpson.Mrs Wallis Simpson was divorced and at that time it was not legal for a King to marry someone who was divorced.

Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

The Diamond Jubilee Pageant

On the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th of May 2012, the Diamond Jubilee Pageant takes place in the the presence of the Queen in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Over 800 international performers and 500 horses will take part in the displays and performances.

Diamond Jubilee Weekend

The main celebration for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee will be the official Jubilee Weekend on the 2nd to 5th June.

On the 4th June thousands of beacons will be lit around the world to commemorate the Queen's 60 year reign. On the same day there will be a big concert at Buckingham Palace.

On Sunday 3rd June, neighbours across the UK will be getting together for The Big Jubilee Lunch. Neighbours will join each other for friendship, fun and of course, lunch Some people will have a simple lunch with their neighbours, others will join big street parties with food, music and decorations.

You can find lots of information about Queen Elizabeth II, plus up-to-date information about the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, on this BBC page.