St George's Day

St George is the best-known of the Patron Saints of England, and the country's flag is often referred to as the Flag of St George. In iconography, the saint is shown slaying a dragon, and this flag adorns his tunic and the banner on his lance. The prominence of St George in English civic life belongs to the fourteenth century, with the foundation of the Order of the Garter by Edward III, but the red cross emblem was first used by the English in the time of Henry III, a century before. It was in Henry III's time that the Coronation Pavement was constructed at Westminster Abbey, and the geometry of this pavement, and understanding its relationship to the Rhombic Dodecahedron, is an achievement of our research.

The flag can also be explained this way. Another name for the flag is the Flag of the Resurrection, as in iconography of the resurrection of Christ, Jesus holds a lance with this flag to represent victory over death. As the figure of Christ looks at us from an icon, a third (garnet red) beam is implied, and the Trinity evoked. The geometry of this Rhombic-Dodecahedral allegory is explored in our sculpture In Hoc Signo, II: Trinity, in which poised square means intersect at a theoretical Rhombic Dodecahedron.

In our latest sculptures, the relationships between the Vision of Ezekiel and the flag designs of England and Scotland are explored. James Syrett's 'The Ophan of England' models one of the 'wheel within a wheel' ophanim of the Book of Ezekiel, coloured in such a way as to reveal the rationale of the Flag of the Resurrection or Flag of St George.

James D. Wenn's 'The Ophan of Scotland' will be revealed in a forthcoming trip to Scotland.

What is the reason for these flag origins? We think that the way the Rhombic Dodecahedron tessellates 3D space has been an allegory for how conformed souls can coexist in a harmonious society. This divine harmony leads the shape to be used for God, too (as in the Resurrection iconography). In the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet was at pains to explain how only souls conformed to the Law and holy scripture could stand a chance of defending Jerusalem in a time of strife, and St George is also a protective figure. Understanding social and spiritual harmony as a defensive and socially powerful cohering force may explain why emblems drawing on this geometry have played a key role in the symbolic language running through our culture.