England branded least patriotic nation in Europe as citizens are too scared to fly the flag
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:07 PM on 19th April 2010
England is the least patriotic nation in Europe as people are too scared of being branded racist to fly the flag.
Over-the-top political correctness, loss of national identity, and worrying about being judged when expressing pride in the country are the main reasons behind the findings, according to a study.
Six per cent of Englishmen and women said they were 'scared' to fly the national flag and one in six fear they will be told to take it down.
Just one in three knew St George's Day was on Friday and more than 40 per cent had no idea why he is the patron saint.
The statistics emerged from a report commissioned by This England magazine, which took in the opinions of 5,820 adults in nine major countries.
Editor Stephen Garnett said: ?We're incredibly disappointed that English people are afraid of displaying the St George's Cross on our patron saint's day.
?We want to reclaim the flag from extremists by asking as many people as possible, no matter what background they come from, to fly it.
?People who love living in England shouldn't feel afraid of showing their pride.
?The more we display the St George's flag, the more we can drown out the voices of the extreme minority and reclaim the flag as a sign of national pride, not racism.?
According to the study, one in four English adults said 'political correctness' had left them feeling ashamed to be English.
And only one in ten said they would happily fly the cross of St George, compared to more than one in three Dutch people.
Four out of ten people said they would happily express their national pride behind closed doors.
A similar number said the only time they felt a real sense of patriotism was during big sporting events or competitions, with 53 per cent claiming the World Cup was the main spark, followed by the Olympics.
Scots ranked their patriotism at 7.1, the Welsh at 7.06 and the Irish at 6.72 ? while England came in at 5.8 out of 10.
The Dutch emerged as the most patriotic European country at 7.18, narrowly ahead of the Welsh.
The Irish emerged as the UK nation most likely to display their national flag.
It also emerged one in five English men and women blame a broken society for their lack of patriotism, while half said they were patriotic in the past.
Mr Garnett added: ?We think it is really important for people, particularly English people, to feel proud of where they live and it was interesting to see from the results that they would feel more proud of their country, if St George's Day was a national holiday and there were more celebrations taking place.
?The Irish have got it right with celebrating St Patrick's Day, it would be healthy if the English did the same - it would be great for unity.?
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