St George & The Dragon

Proud to be English, I can not ignore the date to day without a mention of The legend of George slaying a dragon and rescuing an innocent maiden from death.

The medieval George's Day is celebrated in England on 23 April, reputed to be the day of George's martyrdom in 303.

England's patron saint, a fourth century Christian martyr, is also patron saint of Georgia and the city of Moscow.

Very little is known about the real St George. He is thought to have been born into a noble Christian family in the late third century in Cappadocia, an area which is now in Turkey. He followed his father's profession of soldier and became part of the retinue of the Emperor Diocletian.

The emperor ordered the systematic persecution of Christians and George refused to take part. In 303, he was himself tortured and executed in Palestine, becoming an early Christian martyr.

No Machin stamps to commemorate the day, but we do have an interesting miniature sheet.


This is the second in the country series, a Miniature Sheet and Smilers sheet will be issued to celebrate St. George's Day. The Miniature Sheet will consist of : - 1st. class Lion & Shield definitive, 72p St. George, 72p Houses of Parliament & 1st. class St. George's Flag. It will be printed by De La Rue Security Print in Gravure.

The Smilers Sheet - 'Glorious England' - will consist of 20 x 1st. class Lion & Shield definitives and labels depicting 20 scenes of England, including The London Eye, The Needles ( Isle of Wight ), The Angel of the North ( Gateshead ) & Stonehenge. These will be printed by Cartor Security Printing in Lithography on self-adhesive paper. *

Due to a error in the spelling of Wight (Isle of Wight) these sheets were recalled and a reprint has been ordered, it will be interesting to see if any of the original errors reach the philatelic market.

* Thanks to John, MSN group Stamps of Great Britain for the pic and information on the stamps