George Cross: setting the record straight (1)

There have been numerous letters printed on this esteemed newspaper in response to the question of whether, or rather when, we should remove the George Cross (is-salib ta' Gorg) from our flag. Some were in favour and some were not. At this point I would like to thank the editor for being as impartial as possible bearing in mind that the very front page of The Times displays, in a very prominent place, the George Cross.

I now feel almost duty bound to answer a few questions which were raised by readers in order to set the record straight and to take this opportunity to state that all opinions are respected:

¤ Has a poll been taken on this issue? Not yet and I would wish that an opinion poll would only be taken after the argument is fully explained and not before. Let me elaborate. If you go up to any adult male and ask: Do you agree that a man should wear a tie along with a suit when he needs to be smartly dressed, the obvious answer would be "yes" because that is what he was brought up to believe! All I can state at this stage is that I do discuss this matter with a lot of people and can honestly say that after I explain my argument, eight out of 10 people (especially under the age of 55) immediately agree with my point.

¤ The George Cross relates to one person - King George of England who died 60 odd years ago. Some elderly British people (and I heard this myself many times even on television) even refer to Malta as "the George Cross island" Is that not an insult?

¤ The Maltese Cross on the euro? Do I find difficulty in accepting the coin? Of course not... on the contrary I would be proud to use it. The Maltese eight-pointed cross relates to the order of St John, an order made up of knights coming from most European countries like France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal whose main purpose was to fight off the Muslims. Therefore the Maltese cross not only does not relate to one foreign king but to several European countries. And are we not Europeans after all?

¤ Am I ashamed that our parents and/or grandparents were rewarded for their courage? Of course not. I lost my grandmother and five uncles and aunties as a direct result of the war! Pity Malta was a military base. Let's give the George Cross its importance if you like and put it in the museum but definitely not on our national flag.

¤ If King George were of an Italian or French or whatever other nationality, I would reason the same way. I have nothing against the British; they have the good and the not so good like every other nation.

As I concluding comment I would say that I am at a loss to understand why certain people simply refuse to grasp the very principle of my argument. So I will try to be as concise and simple as possible.

Our national flag should have no emblem, badge, mark or what have you which is in itself a reminder of a foreign person. The George Cross relates after all to "the Cross of King George of England". If we Maltese would want a reminder of one person on the flag, then it should be someone like Dun Karm or Nerik Mizzi or Manwel Dimech - a Maltese person. In my opinion the flag should be kept pure with no embellishment.