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This article appeared on the main page of Yahoo.com under the title, “English celebrate with flags, food on St. George’s Day.”

Excerpts of the last paragraphs read:

Little is known for certain about the saint’s life, but he is thought to have been a soldier of the Roman Empire from Cappadocia, in present-day Turkey, who was executed after refusing to persecute Christians. The story of him slaying a dragon that was terrorizing a village has been circulating since the Middle Ages. He is the patron saint of several countries — including Germany, Portugal and Georgia, which is named for him — as well as the city of Beirut and the Boy Scout movement.

St. George’s popularity spread from the Middle East to Europe with knights returning from the Crusades, and he came to be regarded as a protector of English troops. In 1222 religious leaders in England — which was then Roman Catholic — declared a holiday in his honor, and by the end of the 14th century he was seen as England’s patron saint.

“He was a rebel from the Middle East. His father was Turkish and his mother probably Palestinian,” Tatchell said. “St. George’s parentage embodies multiculturalism and his life expresses the values of English liberalism and dissent.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080423/ap_on_re_eu/proud_to_be_english

His “Turkish” identity might be contentious. Yet, some traditional knowledge reveals him as Hızır (aleyhis selam), Sayyidina Khidr, or Hagia Georgi.