Has there been a deliberate cover-up by historians to obfuscate the significance of the red cross on a white background, now known as the Cross of St George? Ancient documents called it the Cross of Christ and say it was first given to Arviragus, Prince of the royal Silures of Britaine, as his coat of arms by Joseph of Arimathea when he baptised him at Glastonbury in AD 36.

St George’s Day is celebrated on 23 April, and is the traditional feast day of England’s patron saint, still honoured by the Church of England and other Christian Traditions today. Historically, St George became closely associated with England in the medieval period, and his day came to stand for English pride in a similar way that St Andrew’s Day does for Scotland or St David’s Day for Wales. 

The day has symbolic cultural importance because England’s national flag is called the Cross of St George, representing English identity and heritage. Despite its significance, the official Church story of St George offers no rationale for the existence of the Cross of St George in England, which is curious, so I decided to do my own research.

The Roman Catholics, troubled by the fact that Christianity first came to ancient Britaine before Rome, created a false narrative in the early AD 300s, linking St George to a Roman soldier who defied an imperial edict to sacrifice to the pagan gods, creating a smoke screen to obscure the British origin of Christianity. https://thenationalcv.org.uk/More%203%20Joseph%20of%20Arimathea%20came%20to%20Britain.pdf

A review of ancient historical documents by George F Jowett demonstrates that the long cross on a silver-white background was adopted by the ‘British Church’ long before St George was born.

In his book ‘The Drama of the Lost Disciples’ published in 1961, Jowett quotes from the ancient British Chronicles, written by Nennius in the early 800s and Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1136, which state that Joseph of Arimethea converted and baptised Arviragus to ‘The Way’ (early Christianity) in AD 36 and “gave him a shield of silver white, a crosse and long” as a sign for all nations to know.

This was later confirmed by John Hardyng (Harding) (1378 – 1465):

“Joseph converted this King Arviragus By his preaching to know ye laws divine And baptized him as write hath Nennius The chronicler in Brytain tongue full fyne An to Christian laws made hym inclyne And gave him then a shield of silver white A cross and long, and overthwart full perfecte. These armes were used throughout all Brytain. For a common syne, each man to know his nación, And thus his armes by Joesph Creación Full longafore Saint George was generate Were worshipt here of mykell elder date.”

Hardyng confirms that the ancient writer Nennius recorded that the long cross on a silver-white background was given to Arviragus by Joseph before it was associated with Saint George.

Joseph, later known as St Ilid, did this as a gesture of gratitude for the gift of land and sanctuary given by Arivagus in AD 36 to protect Joseph and the other twelve followers of ‘The Way’ when they sought refuge from persecution by the Romans. The land was known as the Sacred Isle of Avilion, being a Celtic word meaning ‘The Isle of Departed Spirits’, referring to the vast number of Christian saints buried there. It was later known as the Hallowed Acres of Christendom and is now known as Glastonbury. The disciples, the Arimathean Culdees, were protected from Roman persecution for 300 years by the British royal family, enabling them to preach and teach to many others.

The long cross was named the Cross of Christ and given to Arviragus as his coat of arms, which at that time was customarily worn on the shield of the chieftain. This is the first record of the cross being officially adopted as the symbol of a king and has remained a symbol of the sovereigns of Britain.

Jowett describes how the symbol of the Lion was added later:

“… the cross as the Christian symobl of Royal heraldry and given to Ariviragus by Joseph, the cross on the shield up to the present time has remained the special symbol of the sovereigns of Britain. In later times the Lion was superimposed on the shield, as shown today. The Lion was the emblem of Judah, Keeper of the Sancturary but, as Christ said, it would be taken away from them and given to another who would keep the Law. This symobol appearing on the British Royal Arms, with the cross, is significant. The cross denotes that the british were the first to accept Christ and by keeping the Law inherited the Kingdom of God taken from the nation of the Jews.“

Genesis 49:9-10 is the source of the lion as the emblem of Judah which is echoed again in Revelation 5:5.

In Matthew 21:43 Christ says that the kingdom will be taken from unfaithful leaders and given to others who will bear fruit. These were the ancient Kelts of the British Isles and the royal bloodline from King Arivagus. This family bor fruit because they protected Joseph of Aremethia and other disciples of The Way for over 300 years. These disciples built curches and took the teachings of Christ all over the world.

Arviragus carried the banner of the Cross through the most bitterly fought battles between the Britons and the Romans, making him the most famous Christian warrior in history, as recorded in early Christian and Roman records.

But Jowett explains that “he is entirely lost to the later histories” with some contemporary sources are attempting to bury the significance of Arviragus as the first Christian King by questioning his existence and referring to him as being a myth.

However, Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae (1136) writes about him being a contemporary of the emperor Claudius (41–54 AD).

Jowett provides further evidence when he references William Malmesbury, who wrote in 1126 AD/CE that:

“... twelve holy missionaries, with Joseph of Arimathea (who had buried the Lord) at their head, came over to Britain, preaching the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The king (Arviragus) of the country and his subjects … gave them for their habitation a certain island bordering on his region, covered with trees and bramble bushes and surrounded by marshes, called Ynis-wytrin.“

Ynys Witrin is the ancient Celtic name for the Isle of Avalon, meaning the Isle of Glass, now Glastonbury Tor. It is also known as Ynys yr Afalon, which means “The Isle of Avalon”.