I have met Charles Xuereb several times. He is a thoroughly decent man and a leading researcher into the brief, but doomed, French period in Malta.
His letter of May 12, titled ‘George Cross as symbol on the flag’, shows he is obsessed with the presence of the George Cross on our flag. Like many obsessives, he tends to be misguided.
The issue is not about the George Cross being placed on the flag “for obvious political reasons in 1943 by a British monarch, who is also the head of the Anglican Church”. Nor about it being “politically retained with local British sympathy-for-votes in mind”. Nor is it about our national colours being more, or less, distinctive with or without the George Cross.
Where does this eminent and likeable historical researcher get his facts from?
Far from being a mark of colonialism, as some who have little understanding of history sometimes assert, the George Cross is the most outstanding tribute to that generation of Maltese people – our parents, grandparents and those my age – who suffered and fought willingly, bravely and fervently against Nazism and Fascism 76 years ago. The George Cross came to be incorporated in our flag because, to a man, we Maltese were proud to see it there as a symbol of their courage.
Those who argue that the Maltese were coerced into a war not of their making have no conception of the loyalty to British democratic values that impelled them to do so. Except for a small minority of Italian Fascist fellow-travellers, the vast majority of Maltese endured the horrors and privations of that war not only because geography had placed Malta inescapably in a vital strategic position but also because they believed utterly in the causes of freedom and democracy for which the war was fought.
Anybody who cares about Maltese identity and culture will know that it is our turbulent history that makes us who we are. This is the nation that, with the Knights of Malta, repelled the indomitable Turks in 1565 and, with the British Allied Forces, helped turn the war against Nazism and Fascism during World War II.
The George Cross is a distinguishing mark of valour for that heroic period in our history and Malta is unique among countries of the world in bearing it proudly on its flag.