The universal cross of Saint George – Party Program 2020
Antonio Ferre Tree
For the inhabitants of this land, Saint George is part of our lives and accompanies us from childhood until we leave this temporary journey called life.. We can participate more actively in the party as part of a troupe or live it from another perspective as a non-festive; we will be able to reside in this population in the height and surrounded by the beauty of the Sierra Mariola or, for different reasons, in the distance being undoubtedly ambassadors of Banyeres and San Jorge: we will always carry, wherever we are, with great honor is our land and Saint George in the heart.
Our Moors and Christians festival has as its central axis Saint George. He is the origin and the one who gives meaning to the party and its troupes; the magnetic north of our parties, as if it were a compass. Without him nothing would make sense. It is essential to take care of the party and its reason for being without losing or distorting its essentials along the way., as well as transmitting to the new generations what has been received from the previous ones. Saint George occupies a special place in the people of this land. It would be a challenge to predict the number of images of Saint George that exist in the homes of those of us who are rooted in Banyeres de Mariola, many of these images possibly received as gifts on special occasions in life and with great sentimental and affective value.
Heroicity, SACRIFICE AND COMMITMENT FOR GOOD
Saint George is loved and occupies a special role in countless places around the world: we will find the affection towards Saint George in the closest and most distant places. Pattern of numerous countries, regions and cities, from our town to Moscow, from Portugal to Serbia, from Freiburg to Palestine or Ethiopia. The name Jorge or Jordi is widely used in many languages throughout the world: Georges in French, George in english, Georg or Jürgen in German, Giorgio en Italian, Jerzy in Polish, György in Hungarian ... By the way, in this country, Hungary, St. George (Saint George) it's National Police Day, who takes as a model the Holy Martyr and his heroic values, sacrifice and commitment for the good, defeating evil represented symbolically in the figure of the dragon.
Venerated by the Catholic Church, the orthodox church, the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, among other, Saint George is truly universal. We celebrate Saint George's Day on 23 of April, but such universality makes it not so in other parts of the world. In countries of orthodox religion, St. George's day (Yuri’s Day) it is usually celebrated twice a year, one in spring and one in fall. In the Orthodox Church the dates of the celebrations are marked by the previous Julian calendar and this means that the day of Saint George is celebrated on 6 May of our Gregorian calendar (which corresponds to 23 April of the Orthodox calendar) Y, at the same time, in November (St. George of Autumn).
In georgia (country named after Saint George) the 6 May and much more importantly the 23 of November, Saint George's Day (Giorgoba), holiday in there. In the Czech Republic and Hungary, Saint George is celebrated on 24 April when the 23 April with St. Adalbert's Day in Prague, obispo, martyr and patron of Hungary and the Bohemian region. In other parts of the world, whether or not the 23 April with Easter will cause St. George's Day to be postponed to the following week, such is the case of those countries or regions with greater influence, for example, of the Catholic Church or the Church of England. We will find across the little planet, innumerable associations that under the name of Saint George have the mission of trying to contribute positively to society, and in turn promote the tradition of Saint George, such as "The Royal Society of Saint George" from England, “The Society of St. George ”of Philadelphia, o “St. George’s Society of New York”, what with 250 years of antiquity aims to help people in need and in turn promote the celebration of St. George's Day. The number of organizations whose purpose is to promote the celebration of Saint George is almost endless. Although it seems like something far away, if we look up, How close that concept is with that of our troupes!
And coming back to our land, everything and that in our population we will find endless pictures, icons and images that transport us to the image of Saint George, the cross of St. George, that red on white Greek cross that universally symbolizes Saint George and that in turn combines simplicity and elegance, seems to have lost some prominence over time.
WAVING WITH GREAT HONOR IN THE WORLD
That elegant cross of St. George, that years ago covered the balconies of our population, over time it was replaced, possibly due to fashion criteria, by the flag of Spain and / or the Valencian Community, and more recently there seems to be a certain tendency for the symbols of the troupes to replace them or to complement them. Due, today almost no trace of the cross of St. George adorning the balconies. Meanwhile, in the neighboring city of Alcoy, that she shares with us and we share with her the affection and passion for Saint George, This cross of Saint George has a great prominence and continues to decorate the balconies with uniformity. So much so that the Decree 51/2019, March 2019, which declares the Moors and Christians festival of Alcoy of cultural interest indicates in its annex that: “Another of the symbolic elements of the festival is the tradition by which the majority of balconies in the city, and especially those where the acts take place, they are adorned with the "cover" that exhibits the cross of Saint George. "
The cross of Saint George turns the figure of Saint George into something even more universal, even in those places less given to represent Saint George with images. That cross flies with great honor in many parts of the world, in the west and in the east, in the northern and southern hemispheres.
We will see this cross of St. George waving, what is the symbol of england, in countless places in that country: in restaurants, in pubs, in the most important sporting events (some closer to our customs such as football, others somewhat less close like cricket or rugby), in the Church of England and in the most emblematic places. If we have the opportunity to visit England on dates close to 23 of April (St. George’s Day) —Who writes these lines had it in a change of dates of our festivals some years ago— will discover that all England vibrates before its flag of Saint George and this one inhabits everywhere. The cross of St. George is the royal flag of England, whose Patron is Saint George.
This cross of St. George, at the same time, It is the base of the United Kingdom flag (known as the Union Flag or Union Jack). "Union" because the flag of the United Kingdom is formed by the union of the cross of St. George (England pattern), by the cross of San Andrés (Scotland pattern) and by the cross of St. Patrick (Ireland pattern). Every time we see the flag of the United Kingdom we will see the cross of St. George in the center of it.
We will also see the cross of St. George on the flag of the city of London, composed of said cross and a sword, smaller, in one of its quadrants, that symbolizes Saint Paul -London pattern-. It will also be present in the coat of arms of this important city. On the majestic and famous Tower Bridge in London (Tower Bridge) we will see how the two flags that crown it with elegance and honor contain the cross of Saint George: the flag of the City of London and the United Kingdom. We will find these two flags in many places. We will see it wave on the ships of the British Royal Navy (Royal Navy), formed by the flag of England and in the upper left quadrant by the flag of United Kingdom which in turn also contains the cross of St. George: two crosses of Saint George on the same flag. We will also see it wave with great honor on the ships of the Indian Navy. (Indian Navy).
FROM BATHTUBS TO GEORGIA, FROM MILAN TO POLYNESIA
The influence of the United Kingdom in many parts of the world throughout history has contributed to that same St. George's cross being the symbol of many places on this small planet. We can move away to the most remote places, but we will not move away from the symbol that reminds us of Saint George; we will see their flag fly. It does not matter if we are on the beautiful beaches of the Fiji islands (Fiji), formed by more than 300 islands in the Pacific Ocean - where we will have to advance the clock 12 hours-, in new zealand, in hawaii, in the Cook Islands, in Australia or Tuvalu (small Polynesian country with 12.000 population, halfway between Australia and Hawaii, and that became popular in its day for the exploitation of internet domains ".tv"): there we will find again the cross of Saint George on their flag and in most cases on their royal coats of arms.. We will also see the cross of Saint George as the protagonist in a large number of cities and regions of Italy. The flag of Milan, that of Genoa —historical naval power—, that of Padua, or that of Sardinia, among many, are formed by the cross of St. George, forming part of a large number of coats of arms. We can see this in the most emblematic places of important Italian cities, as for example in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a few meters from the Milan Cathedral. It could not be less that the country with the name of our Patron also carried this cross: Georgia, country located between Europe and Asia. Known as "the flag of the five crosses", Georgia's flag was reborn as a spring in the year 2004 after many centuries in disuse and is formed by the large cross of St. George and four smaller Jerusalem crosses in each of its four quadrants. How much symbolism! We could go through many places in the world and we would find her, but this article would become almost endless. Much closer, we will find the cross of St. George, Pattern of Aragon and Catalonia, on the flag of Aragon, in the provinces of Barcelona, Huesca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Almería (province and city), and on most of their shields. The city of Barcelona also features the cross of Saint George, and we can see it on the Football Club Barcelona shield (Barça): although since 1910 the Barça team's crest has been renewed eight times, the cross of St. George remains unchanged in the upper left.
In our town of Banyeres de Mariola we will see the cross of San Jorge, among others, in the shield of the comparsas / filaes de Cristians y Jordians, in some of their suits, in the shield of the Commission of Celebrations, complementing the image of Saint George, and on the municipal flag, specifically, in the gualdrapas of the horse of San Jorge although this fact literally does not seem to be mentioned in the official description of said flag: “On the azure field of the oval will go the figure of Saint George on horseback. The horse and the saddlebags will be of silver and the knight of gold, with the face of his color for wearing the raised visor… ”We will also see the cross of Saint George as a symbol of the comparsas of the Christian side and, at the same time, decorating with honor during the festivities the keep of our majestic castle, St. George's cross that can be seen from afar. Possibly one day we will see again that elegant and universal cross of Saint George adorning the balconies and streets of our Noble with greater vigor., Fell, Leal y Real villa de Banyeres de Mariola as a kind of return to the origins. And may this symbol - the Martyr's cross - help us to always keep our eyes on who is the origin, the end and who gives meaning to our Moors and Christians festivities, Saint George festivities. Whether so, as if it is not, Saint George will always play a leading role in our lives and in that of this land that knows how to combine work with great wisdom., effort and party.
